"Equaliser" 12 month plan for electricity bill?

rok

Hi Electric Ireland Reps,
I wish to spread the cost of my electricity usage over 12 months, to avoid getting low bills in summer time and then hit with high bills in the winter months.

I see you have an option in place for Gas:
https://www.electricireland.ie/ei/residential-gas/manage-your-account/gas-equaliser.jsp#ex-q6
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Gas Equaliser is our fixed monthly direct debit payment option, which allows you to spread the cost of your annual gas bill into twelve equal monthly direct debit payment amounts.
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Do you have a similar option for electricity?

Electric Ireland: David

Hi rok,

Thanks for your post.

Yes, we can currently offer the equalizer payment option to electricity customers as well. This was recently re-introduced.

The only condition is that three bills need to have issued before we can set it up (meaning it wouldn't be a default option for new customers).

If you send us your details by private message (including your full name, address, contact number and confirmation that you are the account holder) we can look into setting it up for you.

Thanks,
David

rok

Thanks David,

Further information I should have included - I'm an existing Electric Ireland customer for electricity (last 3.5 years at this address) so I suppose that looks after the three bills to be issued.

How does it work - do Electric Ireland look at my usage over the past year and use that to estimate what my future bills will be 
and then spread the cost of my annual electricity bill into 12 Fixed equal monthly direct debit payment amounts?

Is my usage assessed and if it increases/decreases then the Fixed monthly amounts may be adjusted up/down?

rok

A further question for you... 

If I switch my Gas over to Electric Ireland can I go on the "Gas Equaliser" plan straight away?

I believe all suppliers can access my Gas meter readings, or I can provide previous bills to show my annual usage.

And when would the 1st Gas bill be issued from electric Ireland? 
For example if I switch my Gas to Electric Ireland on January 15th will my 1st Gas bill be issued on February 15th? 

... I will have to pay my closing bill with my current supplier and would prefer to avoid getting their last bill & electric Ireland 1st bill in the same month.

thanks again

Electric Ireland: David

Hi rok,

rok wrote:

How does it work - do Electric Ireland look at my usage over the past year and use that to estimate what my future bills will be 
and then spread the cost of my annual electricity bill into 12 Fixed equal monthly direct debit payment amounts?

Is my usage assessed and if it increases/decreases then the Fixed monthly amounts may be adjusted up/down?

Our old equaliser payment system worked in the above manner. Here's how the new electricity equaliser works:

• A fixed monthly amount is calculated.
• You can choose the date they want the instalment to be collected each month.
• This amount will be displayed on your bi-monthly bill.
• The system will do an automatic annual review on the periodic review date, between 10 – 12 months after the initial sign-up.
• Any debit or credit balance will be included to calculate the next year's monthly amount (so we wouldn't issue refunds to accounts that build up credit after sign-up, as any credit will be factored into the future year's payment).
  

rok wrote:

If I switch my Gas over to Electric Ireland can I go on the "Gas Equaliser" plan straight away?

With gas, the equaliser option is available right away, unlike electricity. So yes you can.

rok wrote:

And when would the 1st Gas bill be issued from electric Ireland? 
For example if I switch my Gas to Electric Ireland on January 15th will my 1st Gas bill be issued on February 15th?

You would receive your gas bill in accordance with the usual bi-monthly cycle (i.e. when gas readings are taken by Gas Networks Ireland), and the monthly payment amount would be shown. So while payments would be monthly (taken on a date of your choosing - between the 1st and 28th of each month) bills remain bi-monthly. 

I hope this helps. If you have any more questions we'll be happy to assist.

Thanks,
David

rok

Thanks David,
Originally posted by rok
If I switch my Gas over to Electric Ireland can I go on the "Gas Equaliser" plan straight away?
With gas, the equaliser option is available right away, unlike electricity. So yes you can. 



I called today to switch over my gas account but the agent wasn't aware that the Equaliser option is available for Gas immediately 
- he is to follow up and call me back, could you pass the information onto him please?

• The system will do an automatic annual review on the periodic review date, between 10 – 12 months after the initial sign-up.
  
• Any debit or credit balance will be included to calculate the next year's monthly amount (so we wouldn't issue refunds to accounts that build up credit after sign-up, as any credit will be factored into the future year's payment).
  

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1 more question regarding credit balance after 12 months - will I get a refund if I change supplier after the 12 months and the account is calculated to be in credit?

thanks,
Rok

Electric Ireland: David

Hi rok,

rok wrote:

I called today to switch over my gas account but the agent wasn't aware that the Equaliser option is available for Gas immediately 
- he is to follow up and call me back, could you pass the information onto him please?

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We will have this information passed on.

rok wrote:

1 more question regarding credit balance after 12 months - will I get a refund if I change supplier after the 12 months and the account is calculated to be in credit?

If after your final bill has been cleared and your account remains in credit, you can request any credit balance in the form of a cheque refund or EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) to your bank account. 

If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Regards,
David