Do I need to renew plan after a year

icjzfmq7ewon1t

Hi I signed up to one of the electric Ireland plans in April 2011. I was paying 0.1410 per unit which went up to 0.1476 per unit which I presume was a price rise. My latest bill says I'm paying over 0.16 per unit. How do I find out which plan I'm on and find if theres one that would cost less.

Also my June/August usage for 2012 is 498 KWh compared to 456 KWh for the same period in 2011 despite nothing changing in the way I use electricty. I am puzzled by this.

EI: Una

Hi Tippwarrior,

The April 2011 price plans expired on 31st March 2012 as originally outlined on the terms and conditions.

You can now have discounts applied of 4% for direct debit and 2% for online billing if you wish. Electric Ireland also offers gas, for which there are further discounts. The contract for this expires on 30th September 2013 and there is a €50 exit fee if a customer on the plan changes provider before this date.

If you would like to have a new price plan applied, do forward me your details by private message: your Electric Ireland account number and your name/address/telephone number as they appear on the account.

Regards,
Una

icjzfmq7ewon1t

That was quick Una. On that plan how much per unit would I pay. I presume thats the plan that gives the biggest savings.

Dont suppose theres any way I can figure out why I used so many units this June/August compared to last.

EI: Una

Hi again Tippwarrior,

Yes, that plan would give you the most savings. The standard unit rate (excluding VAT) of 0.1619 for a 24-hour single tariff meter or 0.1729 (day)/0.0855 (night) for a day/night-tariff meter is what would show on the bill, and the 6% discount then appears as a credit (it is a percentage off the total units used).
Including VAT: 0.1838 for 24-hour single tariff meter; 0.1962 (D) and 0.0970 (N) for a day/night-tariff meter.

There is no way of figuring out previous usage - have a look at this link from our website What is one unit of electricity? which also links to our Appliance Calculator. One possibility I would suggest is: while summer 2011 was cold and wet, summer just gone was even worse.

Do let me know if you require further assistance.

Regards,
Una

icjzfmq7ewon1t

So basically you're saying the weather is at fault for my high usage

So what you're saying I think is my bill will show a unit price of 0.16 and I'll get a 6% discount on my total bill.

EI: Una

Aiyana Muscular Jellybean wrote: »

So basically you're saying the weather is at fault for my high usage

Just suggesting it as a possible factor in the increase in usage compared to last year - even just slight changes daily all add up: for example (generally speaking) putting on lights more due to the unseasonable darkness, increasing electric shower temperature slightly because of the relative coldness, putting on the heating for slightly longer if putting it on at all, boiling the kettle more.

So what you're saying I think is my bill will show a unit price of 0.16 and I'll get a 6% discount on my total bill.

The 6% discount applies to the "Total number of units used" part of the bill (not the standing charge/PSO levy). The bills of customers who are on the discount price plan do not show unit rates after the discounts are applied - the standard unit prices are the only ones shown. The discount information is detailed elsewhere on the bill.

Heroditas

Aiyana Muscular Jellybean wrote: »

That was quick Una. On that plan how much per unit would I pay. I presume thats the plan that gives the biggest savings.

Dont suppose theres any way I can figure out why I used so many units this June/August compared to last.

We had our tumble dryer going a lot more this "summer" and saw our usage increase as a result.
Also, we had the lights on a lot more in the evenings because it was so gloomy.
Aaaaaand.... we had the TV on a lot more because we were indoors as a result of this gloomy summer.