I have been trying to get information on Powergen's Tariffs and now realise how difficult this actually is.
They don't publish their tariffs on the web - only offering a vague "quote" service similar to that employed by uswitch.
I called them and got some information, but of course I cannot be read the full suite of terms and conditions over the phone.
Anyone know where these tariffs are documented online?
In message , Tony writes
Confusion pricing is rife in these large monopolistic organisations where you rarely get to speak to the same person twice.
I wish you luck!!
On a similar note, I received in the post today an apology of a letter from british gas saying they were putting up their rates - see enclosed comparison table for details...
One side of the page has the BG pricing at 3.x pence/unit, whereas the other side showed figures for all other suppliers from 16p/unit plus - it was only by careful examiniation you could spot the false advertising
- the higher prices were for electricity, not gas.
...And british gas declined to give their pricing for that on the table.
Last time I looked some of the comparison sites such as
Dunno about terms and conditions though..
The trouble is that one's own actual tariff is not necessarily listed.
When I tried to use uSwitch recently it told me NPower was cheaper than Powergen. When I looked at Powergen's tariffs as quoted by uSwitch they were nothing remotely like those quoted in my Powergen bill.
I think now is a bad time to compare anyway since everyone is in the throes of raising their prices so you are not assured of an accurate comparison basis.
In message , John Redman wrote
When I last checked Uswitch some time ago the saving they quoted were a lot more than obtained by going to the web sites of the other company and using the prices quoted there.
I finally managed to extract Tariff information indirectly from ukpower.com (if you request a comparison quote, you can click on an individual estimate to view the appropriate tariff).
Its doubtful this is completely up to date (the numbers didn't match those I was given over the telephone by Powergen themselves), but its a start nonetheless.
Confusing customers by misrepresenting energy tariffs is really easy. For example, when a supplier quotes two rates - one for the first x units consumed, and one for units consumed above x, they will not tell you over which period the 'x' units must be consumed. Some tariffs (like the one I was quoted over the phone by Powergen) was based on consumption of 'x' over a quater. Other suppliers (like British Gas) quoted a similary tariff where 'x' was consumed over a year!
Really difficult to compare in these circumstances!
(when I say difficult, I mean difficult to compare when you don't know the appropriate period for 'x', not difficult to multiply the qarterly rate by 4!)
Seasonality is quite an important factor though. you need your last 4 bills and ideally a quarterly meter reading to be sure of what you are using and when. Multiplying the last quarter by 4 isn't going to be accurate.
I'd prefer it if there was simply a fixed standing charge, and perhaps a rebate if you use *less* than a certain number of quarterly units.
Unless your property is empty for long periods I can't see anyone saving by using less than the "threshold" they set.
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