Electricity 10% cheaper with Bord Gais [Merged]

pistolpetes11

http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0218/bordgais.html

I for one will be changing over ! Said it to the boss in work and he has me on the phone now to change over also

Quaderno

Thanks for the reminder, I registered seconds after they launched the website Apparently they offer a 10% discount on the esb tariff for year one and 5% for years two and three of your contract, no matter how low the esb price may go. Sounds very nice to me!
Edit: You can save a further 2% if you sign up for direct debit and you need to pay a deposit of €100/€200 depending on whether you sign up for direct debit or not (but only if are not already a customer I suppose).

pistolpetes11

Quaderno wrote: »

Thanks for the reminder, I registered seconds after they launched the website Apparently they offer a 10% discount on the esb tariff for year one and 5% for years two and three of your contract, no matter how low the esb price may go. Sounds very nice to me!
Edit: You can save a further 2% if you sign up for direct debit and you need to pay a deposit of €100/€200 depending on whether you sign up for direct debit or not (but only if are not already a customer I suppose).

They are guaranteeing 10% for 3 years according to the rte report.

Do the ESB give you back the deposit that I had to pay them ? I had to pay one when i bought my house in August , although I had already been a customer for 6 years already

pistolpetes11

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

They are guaranteeing 10% for 3 years according to the rte report.

Guaranteed minimum savings of 10%* off ESB rates

* The discount stated is off the applicable ESB domestic tariff unit rate and applies to the first year's consumption. Thereafter the Bord Gáis Energy standard discount tariff will apply which is guaranteed to be at least 5% below ESB unit rates for years two and three of this offer. Terms and conditions apply.

https://www.thebigswitch.ie/tcs.htm

10% standard discount
12% if you pay by direct debit
12% if your a Bord Gais customer
14% if your a Bord Gais customer & pay by direct debit

muffinhead

Is there a fixed term contract with this deal?

pistolpetes11

hellboy99 wrote: »

https://www.thebigswitch.ie/tcs.htm

10% standard discount
12% if you pay by direct debit
12% if your a Bord Gais customer
14% if your a Bord Gais customer & pay by direct debit

Excellent , Im a Bord Gais customer and Pay direct debit already .

Hopefully this is the start of the cheaper cost of living that I have been hearing about but not actually seeing !

TM

muffinhead wrote: »

Is there a fixed term contract with this deal?

No - just 28 days notice by customer of cancellation. See section 12:

https://www.thebigswitch.ie/tcs_supply.htm

paulie13

Only heard about this today, and if it's not a bargain, I don't know what is!

Check it out here: RTE news story

Switch over here: Bord Gaid Energy

Vim Fuego

Nice one, this launch is all over the place today. I've switched, I'll drink the €100 I will have saved

Black_Knight

Not that im incharge of the bills at home, but Bord Gais constantly sent out letters, time after time, apologizing for increasing their rates over and over and over. Obviously for Gas not electricity.
Wonder could we expect the same from them with their electricity service?

busman

paulie13 wrote: »

Only heard about this today, and if it's not a bargain, I don't know what is!

Check it out here: RTE news story

Switch over here: Bord Gaid Energy

https://www.thebigswitch.ie/tcs.htm

Guaranteed minimum savings of 10%* off ESB rates

* The discount stated is off the applicable ESB domestic tariff unit rate and applies to the first year's consumption. Thereafter the Bord Gáis Energy standard discount tariff will apply which is guaranteed to be at least 5% below ESB unit rates for years two and three of this offer

Vic Vinegar

Competition for E.S.B! i'm stunned!

i'm gonna switch, hopefully lots of people will and we can get a nice price war between the two. Doubt it though....

GhostInTheRuins

Sounds good. At least we're finally getting a bit of a choice instead of being stuck with ESB.

Only

This looks like a brilliant deal - I have learnt SO many €€€€saving tips on here and sorry if this is a silly question but ... can anyone see a down side to this? Say if there's a problem with the supply or something .... anyone already connected for the electricity supply?? ... Just seems like a great deal that I'm thinking there must be some catch:rolleyes:
Thanks!

chuckles30

I'm with Only - where is the catch? I was just looking at the website and it looks like nothing is changing - the meters will still be read by ESB staff, the lines will still be maintained by ESB staff, so the ESB sell the electricity to Bord Gais for a price which I'm sure includes covering these costs, yet Bord Gais can sell it on for 10% less???? Is there any clauses anywhere that state that repairs will be fixed within the same time frame as currently? Surely with a 10% saving the whole country would be switching - will the ESB then go 'ah feck it, the repairs can wait'!! I seem to remember huge trouble in the UK a couple of years ago after a major storm - all the people who'd changed away from the main provider were without electricity for days after everyone else had been reconnected.

TM

Can't see any catch on the supply issue - it's the same network/infrastructure and supply. You just deal with a different provider. Customer charter issues should be covered by the CER rules.

www.cer.ie

flanzer

Say ESB reduced rates by 10%..will Bord Gais reduce them further again by 5% on top of ESB's 10%?? This seems like a no brainer! (they'll always be cheaper)

HashSlinging

Do they do phone, internet, TV and broadband yet!!? ?

Still good saving.

thebigcheese22

I didn't think two semi-state companies could go against each other in competition - I'm impressed!

Hopefully it will force the ESB to stop living in the bubble they're living in atm.

Gregor Samsa

Now we just need competition in our natural gas supply, and we might have the start of a fair energy market in this country.

conor_mc

I think the problem is that ESB can't drop their price of their own accord - it's set where it is by the CER.

Apparently, it's been set high to encourage competition in order to lower prices..... go figure!!!!! :rolleyes:

Only

I just caught the end of this being discussed on The Afternoon Show just now and they mention AirTricity too ... going to look into both now ... ESB will be minus a customer by the end of the weekl methinks! Thanks everyone!!!

mickoneill30

I was in the car and had Joe Duffy on (the choice on the other stations was even worse). There were people complaining that they wouldn't switch because

a: ESB gave them electricity all these years and the customers should be loyal.
b: 14% discount wasn't enough.
c: There must be a catch and they had their tinfoil hats on.

I'm not listening to Joe Duffy anymore

I think i'll wait and see what response there is from ESB to this news!

John mac

mmmm i wonder what extra charges are going to be added? it only specifies discount to rate. ie .016c per unit

pistolpetes11

mickoneill30 wrote: »

I was in the car and had Joe Duffy on (the choice on the other stations was even worse). There were people complaining that they wouldn't switch because

a: ESB gave them electricity all these years and the customers should be loyal.
b: 14% discount wasn't enough.
c: There must be a catch and they had their tinfoil hats on.

I'm not listening to Joe Duffy anymore

Its nearly beyond belief , I mean at a time when times are hard for most you should take what you can get ! I presume these same people would not dream of heading up north to get an item cheaper because they want to be loyal !

Its because of the cosy attitude of people like them that Ireland is the way it is ! I have not been hit YET in this downturn but I already have started to change, instead of heading into the local spar /centra/londais to pick up a few items , I will make the extra 10 min walk /5min drive down to the tesco /lidil where i will get far better value for my money . I can tell you now it adds up at the end of the month.

We must learn to adapt to change in this country , we need to be given value for our money and I for one think that this is great value compared to what we were receiving .

pistolpetes11

We seem to have two threads on same topic,

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055491691

Mods can you merge ?

MonicaBing

Does anyone know if this would still apply to people with ESB meters in their homes? The ones where you buy the electricity for your home?

bk

chuckles30 wrote: »

I'm with Only - where is the catch? I was just looking at the website and it looks like nothing is changing - the meters will still be read by ESB staff, the lines will still be maintained by ESB staff, so the ESB sell the electricity to Bord Gais for a price which I'm sure includes covering these costs, yet Bord Gais can sell it on for 10% less????

Basically the ESB has been split into three separate companies:

ESB Networks: owns and maintains the National Electricity distribution and takes meter readings for all operators. The transmission system is operated by independent state company Eirgrid.

ESB Power Generation: operates a portfolio of power stations across the country, along with holdings in wind and other renewables. Wholesale market share is currently below fifty percent.

ESB Customer Supply: sells electricity to customers.

So basically ESB Networks charges a standard rate to ESB Customer Supply, Airtricity and Bord Gais for the maintenance of the ESB network, while these three companies can compete for customers. These companies can charge less by buying electricity from different generators (ESB Power Generation, Airtricitys wind farms, Bord Gais gas powered power stations, Northern Ireland power stations, etc.) and by having more efficient administration (Bord Gais will probably use it's existing call centers and billing systems as an example).

BTW The government should have done this with Eircom when they sold it, splitting into a network company and a customer supply company and kept the networking company while selling off the customer supply company.

They basically learned from their mistakes with Eircom and seem to be handling it better now.

Soarer

thebigcheese22 wrote: »

Hopefully it will force the ESB to stop living in the bubble they're living in atm.

What bubble are they living in?

Esel

MonicaBing wrote: »

Does anyone know if this would still apply to people with ESB meters in their homes? The ones where you buy the electricity for your home?

Yes, of course! Afaik, the ESB will still read the meter and carry out any necessary repair/maintenance to the supply lines to your home.

Also, the reduction will be 12% for those who already use gas (14% if you pay by direct debit).

dingding

Anyone know if it will work with the day / night rate.

Kilteragh

Airtricity offering same/ similar:

https://www.airtricity.com/ireland/for_your_home/switch_online_now/index.xml

DublinWriter

I for one, welcome our new Bord Gaseous overloards...

...but I won't be switching anytime soon. I personally would wait to see this service bed down over the next six months before switching.

There will be inevitable problems with initial customer service, out of ESB and BG, I find BG to be the most meter-shy and usually just send estimated bills.

I just get a gut feeling that there will be a lot of initial problems with Bord Gas, and my gut rarely fails me.

Sids Not

Agree with DublinWriter...i'm sick of having to ring BG with the actual meter reading...and always over-estimated.....just wondering how many people just pay their bills without looking, i know my sister in law does....thats quite a few bob in the BG account...
They say the ESB meter readers will be doing the reading and passing on the info.....prepare for some very high estimated readings on your bills for a while...:D

Dilbert75

Well I've just been quoted 14.43c/unit from BGE (inclusive of 2% discount for paying by direct debit) vs. 14.76c/unit from Airtricity (inclusive of discounts for level payment plan and direct debit) and 16.40c/unit from ESB. Given that Airtricity supply from wind farms and are not another wasteful semi-state, I think I might go for them.

Sids Not

Have to play my "ignorant" card on Airtricity....They already supply electricity to the national grid...so the ESB are taking this electricity for free ,using less of their own resources to produce it and NOT passing on the saving to their "loyal" customers....think i'll think a wee bit longer before i switch to BG...;)

lizzyd66

Just checked the website - it does apply to day/night rates. The standing charge stays the same as ESB though so it won't be a straight 10% or whatever saving on your whole bill just on the usage element of the bill if you know what I mean. I pay my ESB bill on a budget plan same amount a month. Does anyone know if BG offers the same?

danois

If we change over and it turns out to be a crap service do you think ESB will charge a fee to those of us who went back????

Any one know if you can fill in the form online now and then ring them with your BG account number for those of us who dont keep bills??

cormie

Kilteragh wrote: »

Airtricity offering same/ similar:

https://www.airtricity.com/ireland/for_your_home/switch_online_now/index.xml

I think my friend signed up to them and it ended up being more expensive If they are now cheaper I'd much prefer to use them since they support renewable energy.

simona

danois wrote: »

If we change over and it turns out to be a crap service do you think ESB will charge a fee to those of us who went back????

Any one know if you can fill in the form online now and then ring them with your BG account number for those of us who dont keep bills??

According to http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0218/bordgais.html , 'Bord Gáis hopes to expand its customer base to more than 1m people in three years and says there will also be no penalty if a customer wants to switch back to the ESB.'

:eek: But do we get our ESB deposit back?

John mac

cormie wrote: »

I think my friend signed up to them and it ended up being more expensive If they are now cheaper I'd much prefer to use them since they support renewable energy.

I rang them last year and was quoted .1697 per unit when esb were .1597.

I would prefer to use renewable also.
just found pricing here

cgarvey

ESB is 10-14% in Year 1, and 5-9% in years 2 and 3 (you get 2% for paying by DD, and 2% if you're an existing gas customer).

Airtricity are offering cheaper-than-ESB rates as well now. But to get 10% savings, you have to sign up to direct debit, paperless billing and use their spread-payment plan (which may or may not suit). Bord Gais give you 10% starting off.

In my case, I save 12% with Bord Gais, or 8% with Airtricity. Given that the latter haven't responded to my email (I'd asked why Date of Birth was a required field), I'll remain guilt-free by spending my 4% on reducing my consumption (CFLs, power meters to better manage my consumption, etc.).

Airtricty feed in to the same grid as ESB, so it's the same electricity I'm using (and Airtricity still get paid for their input). I don't think Airtricity (as a retail provider, not as a grid supplier) is as green an energy option as some people think.

empirix

to the guy waiting to see the response from the ESB -there wont be much of one, there price is set by the regulator and is reviewed 2 times per year, which basically means Bord Gais can undercut them any time - this is done to encourage competition in the market. The opposite would happen if ESB entered the Gas market - they could undercut Bord gais, so you would then be better off getting gas from the ESB. tHHE Irish energy market has become deregulated and at first the boyswanted to secure Commercial customers as its way more lucrative but now its the residential markets turn, i can see a few more players entering this market in the coming years i.e. British energy, esb into gas market etc Prices should continue to fall!

unkel

Just signed up. The additional 2% discount for DD and the 2% for current BG customers are the cherry on the cake that decided it for me

The switch-over process online takes only a minute if you have a Bord Gais bill, an ESB bill and your bank details at hand

The website is very clear and works well. Nice one, Bord Gais

TM

unkel wrote: »

The website is very clear and works well. Nice one, Bord Gais

Didn't work properly for me in Firefox. I had to switch to IE because it didn't enable the Dublin postal code or direct debit details form controls properly.

T-Bird

Hmm sounds like a good idea I might sign up myself. But I have no idea how to convert everything to use gas:D

itisyeah

unkel wrote: »

Just signed up. The additional 2% discount for DD and the 2% for current BG customers are the cherry on the cake that decided it for me

The switch-over process online takes only a minute if you have a Bord Gais bill, an ESB bill and your bank details at hand

The website is very clear and works well. Nice one, Bord Gais

i just did the same

bk

Sids Not wrote: »

Have to play my "ignorant" card on Airtricity....They already supply electricity to the national grid...so the ESB are taking this electricity for free ,using less of their own resources to produce it and NOT passing on the saving to their "loyal" customers....think i'll think a wee bit longer before i switch to BG...;)

Wind generated power is actually quiet a bit more expensive then other forms of electricity generation such as coal.

That is why there is an extra "green charge" on your bill to pay for the more expensive wind generation.

Stevie Dakota

Just switched as well. Given that everyone is trying to save a few bob I can see this being a huge success.

byte

Quaderno wrote: »

Edit: You can save a further 2% if you sign up for direct debit and you need to pay a deposit of €100/€200 depending on whether you sign up for direct debit or not (but only if are not already a customer I suppose).

Where does it mention the deposit part? I can't see it. Damned if I'll pay €200 to switch from ESB to BG.