Out of contract - which energy provider is best?

S

Sunnysoutheast

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We are out of contract with Bord Gais and looking for best value for home electricity and gas.

Bonkers.ie show Energia as the best option for our usage but am aware they won't give Bord Gais as an option as we wouldn't be switching then and they wouldn't make money from us!

Any ideas as to best energy provider for both electricity and gas and which plan is best with this provider (as there seems to be lots of different plans for each provider!).

Thanks!
 
Bord Gais seem to now have their own tarrif picker, but I tried to use it yesterday and it wouldn't work. I'm sure they will eventually fix it.
 
Just moved to Bord gais with 40% discount on both electricity and gas.I have a smart meter but its better to use discount off standard rates.Crazy but smart meter tarriffs are more expensive.
 
In my experience energia are excellent for customer service.

I recently switched from SSE A to elec ire through bonkers.

I initiated the switch a week before contract was up, hoping and thinking that the switch would not happen until my contract elapsed. Especially as i had given my contract renewal date to bonkers. However the switch went ahead within a few days and was processed before renewal date so i was slapped with an early termination fee.

I found it unfair as i hadnt instructed anyone to early terminate my contract.

Im asking SSE A if theyll refund it but not holding breath.
 
If you think energy prices are going to go up in the autumn and winter and you have a day/night non-smart meter, I don’t think you can do better than Energia’s EV plan. The urban rates are €0.2744 (including VAT) in the day and €0.079 at night. While the day rate is not the cheapest available on the market, the night rate is.

But the reason I opted for this plan: it’s the only one I know of currently where the rates themselves are fixed for the duration of the contract. Not the level of discount: the rates themselves. Even that day rate may look pretty good in 3 or 6 month’s time.

I don’t know if you actually have to have an EV (we do, but no one asked). The day rate goes up to €0.3041 for usage over 3,000 kWh in a 2-month billing period and the night rate goes to €0.1481 for usage over 2,000 kWh in a billing period. So if you’re a heavy consumer, it might not be for you.
 
Didn’t realise when I wrote that that SSE Airtricity would be increasing their rates by 39% today. I wouldn’t be surprised if Energia decided from today that the EV plan is now a fixed level of discount rather than the fixed rate it was yesterday.
 
Signed up this week to switch from Flogas (bills were 2.5x more expensive in the 12 months I stayed with them) to SSE but will be cancelling that application given their upcoming increase. I realise others may follow suit but Ill need to check bonkers to see which is best at that point of time.
 
It’s really like trying to hit a moving target selecting provider. One day the cheapest provider could become the most expensive. Crazy.

I’m out of contract for electric and electric Ireland are my best bet according to bonkers and switcher. So I’m in the process of the move. But what’s to say this time next week they’ve hiked their prices! As mentioned earlier getting a fixed rate could well be the way to go. I’m not sure how many providers offer that however.
 
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ArthurMcB said:
In my experience energia are excellent for customer service.

I recently switched from SSE A to elec ire through bonkers.

I initiated the switch a week before contract was up, hoping and thinking that the switch would not happen until my contract elapsed. Especially as i had given my contract renewal date to bonkers. However the switch went ahead within a few days and was processed before renewal date so i was slapped with an early termination fee.

I found it unfair as i hadnt instructed anyone to early terminate my contract.

Im asking SSE A if theyll refund it but not holding breath.
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This seems just silly. You jumped the gun, simple as that.

I’ve just initiated a switch away from Energia to SSE. Energia offered me a 20% discount to stay, SSE offered me 33% to move and the actual underlying rates reflected that differential.

Energia’s customer service is superb though, I’ll miss that.
 
Energia EV plan on a day/night meter is still the only plan in the country that has fixed unit rates for the duration of the contract. The rates for new customers on this plan have gone up twice in the last 2 weeks and they may do away with it altogether.
 
I'm doing that switch check past two days as well, from what I can see from Bonkers/Switcher and their own website Bord Gais seems to be my best bet. However and maybe this makes no difference the bulk of their electricity is produced from gas as opposed to the provider (can't remember which one) which is mainly renewables and won't give me as big a saving.

Would that sway anyone towards the renewable crowd as in maybe there is less chance of them running out or hiking price?
 
Monbretia said:
I'm doing that switch check past two days as well, from what I can see from Bonkers/Switcher and their own website Bord Gais seems to be my best bet. However and maybe this makes no difference the bulk of their electricity is produced from gas as opposed to the provider (can't remember which one) which is mainly renewables and won't give me as big a saving.

Would that sway anyone towards the renewable crowd as in maybe there is less chance of them running out or hiking price?
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Electricity prices track gas prices very closely, even for suppliers who generate most or even all of their electricity using renewables.

That's because gas is used to generate electricity when the renewables aren't producing enough, and the price of all units of electricity is determined by the price of the most-expensive unit. This system is called "marginal cost pricing". (This is true in the UK. I assume it's the same here but I'm willing to be corrected.)

One thing to watch out for is not to sign up with a supplier who has not yet increased their prices when others have recently done so. This will make them look cheap in any comparison but the price will go up shortly after you start your contract.
 
Thank you for the explanation, Bonkers/Switcher are both showing the Bord Gais price after their proposed 1/10 increase, their own site is not! So it's taken into account in the figures I'm looking at, I just had a look at their own site for signing up purposes as the deal is not available to sign up to on the comparison sites and apparently the phone holding times are astronomical for BG!
 
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