Alternative Energy Suppliers

Max Power1

Have flogas recently increased their rates?

I have been put up to 3.8525 c/kwh (ex vat) on the most recent bill. This is only 2% less than the current BGE rate. I was previously on the 11% discount. I will be ringing on monday to query (certainly not paying until this is clarified)

dahamsta

Energy suppliers are required to notify you of changes in their prices. If you didn't receive a notice, then they shouldn't have changed the price. If they did, and you genuinely didn't receive the notice, you should file a complaint with the regulator. You'd be better off using this against Flogas to get a discount until the end of the year though. Irish regulators are useless and/or corrupt.

Our man in Havana

As they have you paying by DD you won't have the option to withhold payment.

Max Power1

Haddockman wrote: »

As they have you paying by DD you won't have the option to withhold payment.

Not paying by DD though

Turns out I had a year on the new customer rate and that year was up. I said I was going to move supplier, however I cant, as I amnt going to BGE and Airtricity is DD only and puts both gas & electricity on one bill.

dahamsta

Had Airtricity to my door again today - they eventually replied to my email, about 3 weeks later - told them to f*ck off and never darken my door again. If they put half the money they spend on the dickheads in housing estates and shopping centers towards customer service, they might actually get somewhere. As it is I hope the company dies a slow and painful death.

Anyone got an email address for someone high up in Scottish & Southern? I wonder if they have any idea of the incompetence with which their subsidiary is being run over here.

adam

gaa_fan

Max Power1 wrote: »

Airtricity is DD only and puts both gas & electricity on one bill.

That's not true.

Airtricity will give you 2% off the Bord Gáis rates for gas if you don't sign up for direct debit, and it's 5% if you sign up for direct debit. That's with a standalone gas account, no electricity account attached. Provided of course that you sign up for ebilling, otherwise the discount drops by a further 1%.

http://www.airtricity.com/roi-domestic/products/new-customer-gas/

Beware though, their standing charge is higher than the Bord Gáis one.

http://www.airtricity.com/assets/products/newgas_2.html

gaa_fan

How long does it take Flogas to switch you over from Bord Gáis? My girlfriend switched a month ago but hasn't heard anything from them since then.

Max Power1

gaa_fan wrote: »

That's not true.

Airtricity will give you 2% off the Bord Gáis rates for gas if you don't sign up for direct debit, and it's 5% if you sign up for direct debit. That's with a standalone gas account, no electricity account attached. Provided of course that you sign up for ebilling, otherwise the discount drops by a further 1%.

http://www.airtricity.com/roi-domestic/products/new-customer-gas/

Beware though, their standing charge is higher than the Bord Gáis one.

http://www.airtricity.com/assets/products/newgas_2.html

exactly.

Perhaps I should have said that they dont give a "worthwhile" saving without a dual-fuel account on direct debit.

Dublindave2

Does anyone know if there is a website that compares tariffs from all three of the above. They all say that they are the cheapest, but who is to know. I would like to consolidate both gas and electricity with one supplier.

gollem_1975

Dublindave2 wrote: »

Does anyone know if there is a website that compares tariffs from all three of the above. They all say that they are the cheapest, but who is to know. I would like to consolidate both gas and electricity with one supplier.

don't know of a website but in order to introduce competition into the energy market the incumbents i.e. BG and ESB are not allowed to offer comparable rates to any new market entrants until they gain a particular share of the market. so at the moment I would assume that Airtricity are offering the cheapest rates. I suspect their might be a catch but for the time being I haven't found one.

royston_vasey

This link compares the relevant tariffs:

http://www.moneyguideireland.com/electricity-prices

You'll see that Bord Gais is the cheapest for electricity. The cheapest for gas is Flogas; the 20% saving being advertised by Airtricity is misleading as you have to have both your gas and electricity with them as well as signing up to e-billing. It works out cheaper to switch your electricity to Bord Gais and your gas to Flogas.

Now is anybody from Bord Gais or Flogas are reading this - do you need a marketing manager?

Dublindave2

royston_vasey wrote: »

This link compares the relevant tariffs:

http://www.moneyguideireland.com/electricity-prices

You'll see that Bord Gais is the cheapest for electricity. The cheapest for gas is Flogas; the 20% saving being advertised by Airtricity is misleading as you have to have both your gas and electricity with them as well as signing up to e-billing. It works out cheaper to switch your electricity to Bord Gais and your gas to Flogas.

Now is anybody from Bord Gais or Flogas are reading this - do you need a marketing manager?

Thanks a mil for that. Would you believe I currently have that combination, but Given the hard sell on the doorstep you can easily doubt yourself

dudara

Threads merged

dudara

The_Conductor

Dublindave2 wrote: »

Does anyone know if there is a website that compares tariffs from all three of the above. They all say that they are the cheapest, but who is to know. I would like to consolidate both gas and electricity with one supplier.

What an honest Bord Gais employee told me- was Bord Gais for electricity, and Flogas for natural gas....... Dunno......

quinnthebin

also try http://www.bonkers.ie for comparison of all things financial

Dublindave2 wrote: »

Does anyone know if there is a website that compares tariffs from all three of the above. They all say that they are the cheapest, but who is to know. I would like to consolidate both gas and electricity with one supplier.

click_here!!!

This poll is inaccurately framed for two reasons:

a) It should ask something like "Which electricity provider are you with/joining?", so as not to suggest one provider in particular.

b) It excludes IFA Power, a minor electricity supplier for IFA members.

Have a good day:)

daravinny

in 2011 the ESB will be providing gas to the domestic market, whats the difference between Bord gaid and ESB anymore?

The_Conductor

daravinny wrote: »

in 2011 the ESB will be providing gas to the domestic market, whats the difference between Bord gaid and ESB anymore?

Most probably- the ESB will undercut Bord Gais on gas prices, and Bord Gais will undercut the ESB on electricity prices......... Still- unless they beat Flogas, I ain't moving.......

daravinny

smccarrick wrote: »

Most probably- the ESB will undercut Bord Gais on gas prices, and Bord Gais will undercut the ESB on electricity prices......... Still- unless they beat Flogas, I ain't moving.......

as long as the government is allowed to shackle them with subsidies and unfair practices to facilitate failed generation models such as wind power, that is.

If the government allows these companies to be truly competative, then the ESB will win hands down in the electricity market, and bord gais will win hands down in gas. Bloody Greens.

Sugarfree

daravinny wrote: »

as long as the government is allowed to shackle them with subsidies and unfair practices to facilitate failed generation models such as wind power, that is.

If the government allows these companies to be truly competative, then the ESB will win hands down in the electricity market, and bord gais will win hands down in gas. Bloody Greens.

Thats not entirely true about ESB being upped by Bord Gais in the gas market. At the moment the ESB are the biggest shippers of natural Gas in the country so they have the experience.

The_Conductor

Sugarfree wrote: »

Thats not entirely true about ESB being upped by Bord Gais in the gas market. At the moment the ESB are the biggest shippers of natural Gas in the country so they have the experience.

I think that the comment referred to retail sales- but it wasn't clarified.

With regard of the comment about wind power- the productive lifespan of a wind turbine averages 20 years. It takes just under 11 years to repay its initial investment (or just over 8 if subsidies are accounted for)- meaning you get a 44% ROI over the lifespan of the project (backloaded to accounted for the high initial start-up costs- if the turbine lasts longer than average- other than ongoing maintenance, its money in the bank....... Windpower is not about making people rich, its about supplying an ongoing supply of clean energy and reducing our dependency on expensive oil imports. It does however pay its way.

daravinny

smccarrick wrote: »

I think that the comment referred to retail sales- but it wasn't clarified.

With regard of the comment about wind power- the productive lifespan of a wind turbine averages 20 years. It takes just under 11 years to repay its initial investment (or just over 8 if subsidies are accounted for)- meaning you get a 44% ROI over the lifespan of the project (backloaded to accounted for the high initial start-up costs- if the turbine lasts longer than average- other than ongoing maintenance, its money in the bank....... Windpower is not about making people rich, its about supplying an ongoing supply of clean energy and reducing our dependency on expensive oil imports. It does however pay its way.

those timescales on windpower are rubbish, I would love to see your source. The payback on generation costs is dependent on the cost to produce MWHrs, which is dependent on varying market conditions. there is no fixed price formula that an be applied over a 20 year period. the reality of wind power can be seen any time on eirgrids website.

http://www.eirgrid.com/operations/systemperformancedata/windgeneration/

wind generation varies wildy and frequently does not supply more then 15-20% of its capacity. a dismal failure in terms of load factor.

Wind power is utterly unreliable as component of a countrys power generation supply. please read up on what reliability and load factor means in power generation to understand what I mean. It is sustained only by subsidies and the ability to buy electricity from ather sources such as power plants to fulfill its contracts. ie: how does a wind supply company fulfill its contracts when the wind does not blow? most of our generation is from gas, not oil by the way.

other forms of clean power are needed, wind is simply unsustainable.

creaghadoos

has anyone got any experience of this positive or negative, i would like to hear.

i did hear that this is causing esb awful problems with people not paying their final bill

Will_H

Did this 12 months ago - no problems. Simple to switch across.....

rameire

i did the switch donkeys years ago now.
waiting for esb to be deregulated.

this is an excerp from a website
http://www.ndas.ie/blog/item/10-deregulation-of-esb.html
i am declaring a conflict of interest on this website, it is run by a relation.

Excerpt from the CER publication CER 11/026 Dated 10 February 2011.
"On 3rd February the CER published its competition review for Q4 2010 in which it made its assessment of competition in the domestic market. The report found that switching trend data indicates that the market share 60% threshold will be met within Q1 2011. Therefore, pending further steps and milestones being completed with regards to the rebranding process ESBCS could be deregulated in the domestic market on 1st April 2011.

The CER will conduct another review at the beginning of March 2011. Providing switching rates continue as expected and ESBCS continues to progress its rebranding, then deregulation of the domestic market should take place. Once this occurs, ESBCS will be no longer be subject to tariff regulation and will be able to set their domestic tariffs as they see fit."

Cutting through the gobbledygook : Electric Ireland will be allowed set its own prices from 1 April.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Old News that! But anyway the word now is that ESBCS/Electric Ireland can't cut costs enough to make them competative in the domestic market for a couple of years. We'll wait and see.

The_Conductor

creaghadoos wrote: »

has anyone got any experience of this positive or negative, i would like to hear.

i did hear that this is causing esb awful problems with people not paying their final bill

Switched right back at the beginning. The discount only applies until such time as the ESB are deregulated (aka 1st April). You need to sit down and figure what makes most sense for you- and definitely put a weighting on customer services etc- I still shudder at some of my past experiences....... Its going to get interesting once the ESB are deregulated (I hope!)

The_Conductor

Colby Stale Creek wrote: »

Old News that! But anyway the word now is that ESBCS/Electric Ireland can't cut costs enough to make them competative in the domestic market for a couple of years. We'll wait and see.

Their staff costs are quite incredible- I had to pinch myself when I was reading the annual report......... I genuinely have no idea how the staff manage to get such generous salary and incentive packages. Meh......

AndyGarcia

smccarrick wrote: »

Switched right back at the beginning. The discount only applies until such time as the ESB are deregulated (aka 1st April). You need to sit down and figure what makes most sense for you- and definitely put a weighting on customer services etc- I still shudder at some of my past experiences....... Its going to get interesting once the ESB are deregulated (I hope!)

ESB have been deregulated for commercial tarriffs since Oct 2010 and did nothing until this month. They dropped the rates put seriously increased the standing charge, in some cases its up 600% so when they enter back into domestic ill be looking at the standing charge

Vanhalla

Ive been with airtricity for a couple of years now. i got the 12% discount when i joined but had a bord gais salesman around a while ago. he was saying that the airtricity discount of 12% goes down to about 6% after a year or whatever. is that true?