Check your energy usage today and get a better deal tomorrow

Kya deLongchamps says high energy prices are based on customer inertia so check your usage and rate and get a better deal today to save tomorrow.

Due to deregulation of domestic utilities in Ireland since April 2011, there are 12 power suppliers and 8 gas suppliers now in Ireland.

While that ensures healthy competition — electricity and gas are wholesale global commodities and to be fair, our suppliers have to respond to fluctuations in the prices charged for those resources. Eight moved on prices by the tail end of summer.

Recent increases include 12.3% on the gas tariff and 6.4% on electricity with SSE Airtricity since mid-June. Panda Power had put 5% on its gas range and 5.9% onto it standard electricity unit since last month.

These figures are matched and surpassed by a loading of 9.38% on energy pricing from Pinergy. The PSO Levy and standing charges are simply unavoidable.

And that’s in part due to the whirling world market storm that we cannot control. What we can do, and what the Commission for Energy Regulation (CER), other government bodies and switching services have all but begged us to do, is to seek out the best deal annually, taking twelve month contracts each and every year without fail.

Consumers can easily beat the recent price increases by actively switching. An active customer switching or renegotiating every year (for the last 4 years) could have saved €1,414 on dual fuel, €670 on gas or €1,146 on electricity #switchon pic.twitter.com/qhelmxSmH1

— CRU (@UtilityregCRU) July 6, 2018

This is not playing the stock market — there’s no penalty or reckless danger in it.

The odd thing is that most of us, even knowing we can save money, don’t switch from the most expensive product these suppliers have to offer, that standard tariff on gas and electricity.

Dithering and procrastinating, we blithely play the highest unit price. Some of us have never, ever switched supplier to get a better deal on power or even our phone — both areas where the monopoly has been ripped away. This is not anecdotal, it’s a well researched and baffling fact.

The Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) published a report for last year on phone providers and customer behaviour and it makes stark reading.

A chunk of the Irish population (57%) seem hardwired to keep paying the standard tariff for their phone while those who do move, are motivated only by big savings teases and what is termed ‘bill shock’.

“Bill shock is strongly associated with intention to switch, especially among those more inclined to switch. A similar effect arises for expected gains, especially gains over 20%.”(ESRI 2018)

Misplaced, old fashioned loyalty to the firm, inertia, fear of change or the demands of dealing with the largely idiot-proof tick-boxes to switch?

We don’t have time to take a winding journey through the mysteries of the cerebral cortex of an Irish bill payer, but just take a look at lively energy price changes on the switching portal, bonkers.ie.

Amid the infuriating price rise reports on the standard tariff per unit, are a rolling, regular fanfare of offers on power and gas, more markedly power/gas bundles matched to 12 and 24 month contracts.

Even pay-as-you-go customers, who are hit the hardest for unit price, can save money. The CER project, based on current offers and pricing, shows that year by year, switching energy alone could save a household, €719 in five switches over five years (2018-2023) rising to €1,394 for a dual fuel bundle during the same period based on

paperless billing and direct debit.

Not convinced? The CER has demonstrated that over the last four years customers who switched or renegotiated their tariff charge every year (three to six minutes of their life) have saved more than €1,100 on electricity compare to those who did nothing.

Transferring the gas bill to another deal could have saved a customer some €670, and over 48 months, jumping to another package could have raked back a warming €1,400 for a dual fuel bundle, paid by direct debit and using internet paperless billing.

A meagre 14% of us changed power suppliers during 2017 (down slightly from 2016) and 18% of gas customers also played the market, but the numbers jumping ship has moved up a full 5% since 2014 .

Let’s change that number up for 2018 and the next four years ahead. Let’s do it, this weekend. Economic principle and the idea of fair play does move the market.

According to an April Energy Consumer Survey by the CER, those who hesitate to change cite, ‘happiness with their current provider, being unsure about the long-term benefits of switching, and feeling that the process of switching may be difficult – irrelevant (the same service is almost guaranteed supplier to supplier) and untrue.”

First of all, dig out your last bill or bring it up on screen, and examine what tariff you are on from your electricity and/or gas supplier. You don’t have to find the name of the deal, but it’s helpful.

Bill shock? Have a quick cup of Barry’s and go back to the PC.

You now have your account numbers to hand (MPRN or GPRN). Resist going to the websites of the individual suppliers – they are all represented on the dedicated consumer switching sites bonkers.ie and switcher.ie. All current deals are all on hand. Keep in mind, even if you’re happy with the service you are receiving, or you are moved by their green credentials, challenge your current supplier using the results from the blissfully simple, switching services of bonkers.ie, or switcher.ie.

The CER is an independent body responsible for overseeing the regulation of Ireland’s electricity and gas sectors. They have no skin in the game.

Ireland has a high rate of switching across both the gas and electricity markets and 2017 saw a record high of 18% of gas customers switching suppliers #switchon pic.twitter.com/QPkiOckMa0

— CRU (@UtilityregCRU) July 6, 2018

There are step by step instructions, FAQs and a simple box-fill, layout. This is not a charity auction, you won’t accidentally bid on a bushel of kWhs you don’t want – there are protocols, reminders and steps.

Key in if you have a rural standing charge (on your current bill) or, for instance, if you use NightSaver power. You can work out your kWh draw using your last twelve bills, or one bill, or just use the national average of 4200kWh for electricity and 11,000kWh for gas (reasonable for a 3 bed semi).

The two switching sites have slightly different formats but both offer an easy to read, transparent mechanism to judge the deals from providers in a list form of like-for-like products.

These will be shown as falling from the greatest potential savings for your particular circumstances during that contract term. It’s an introduction, and the terms and conditions should always be followed up.

A contract might be 24 not 12 months for example. What penalty if any is there for leaving the contract early? €50 is standard for power. If the new deals save you €100 a year, it’s worth paying the penalty to leave your current supplier.

If you have never bundled your power and gas and you enjoy natural gas, enter your details and check that out too.

Unlike choosing telephone/broadband/internet bundles, a unit of power or gas is a unit of power or gas – this is low-flying stuff.

Put a reminder on your phone or on a wall calendar when your electricity/gas contract is approaching its end (or your billing will quietly revert to that standard tariff).

Remember to stay engaged and informed about the contents of your bill, year round. The same crack team that maintains your power lines and gas supply will maintain it, no matter who you pay for the product at the end of the lines.

Next Week: Beat the wattage of your bills with clever power hacks — plus the introduction of Time-of-Use Tariffs,