# Airtricity..Has anyone switched?



## elkii

Has anyone switched to Airtricity and if so did you have any problems?

They claim their daytime rate is cheaper than Eircoms 12.06c per unit (13.69c inc VAT) with a standing charge of €3.44 (€3.90 inc VAT) which I assume is per bill.

Their night rate is 5.80c (6.58c inc VAT) per unit.

Would be interested in any info! Thanks


----------



## Protocol

*even more competition*

Are Airtricity competing against Eircom in telecoms??

I assumed they just sold electricity to businesses, in competition with the ESB.


----------



## elkii

*Re: even more competition*

Ahh,,,you KNOW I meant ESB!!!!!!


----------



## Protocol

*I'm very bad*

Yes, I did, sorry.

Anyway, can a DOMESTIC household now choose who to buy power from?

Or is it just COMMERCIAL customers?


----------



## Penny Foolish

*Re: I'm very bad*

Yes, they started doing domestic a couple of months ago. I would have switched, but you could only pay by direct debit, and my budget is way too tight for any variable direct debits.


----------



## elkii

*Re: I'm very bad*

Yes indeed they have now started to offer the service to us domestics! Anyone used them in any capacity..commercial or domestic??


----------



## bluetoff

*Re: I'm very bad*

Sent a couple of enquiries through their own website, but good oul Airtricity have failed to respond to any of them. A bit like Charlie McCreevy really, they just don't seem to be into responding to questions.


----------



## rory

*Re: I'm very bad*

Just compared Airtricity's and ESB's prices for daytime domestic customers.

Airtricity's price per unit is 13.69c, that's only 0.12c cheaper than ESB. Their standing charge is the same. I don't think it's worth changing for a 0.8% saving per unit.


----------



## sunnyday

*Re: I'm very bad*

0.12 cent per unit is a small difference yes, but better in your pocket eh? AFAIK it doesn't cost anything to change, correct? And I'm just wondering if Airtricity would be better placed to resist inflationary pressures like oil price going forward, and thus offer better value in the long term. On the other hand maybe they'll just get greedy in the future and track ESB's prices to keep up profits. Either way, 0.8% of a saving is a SAVING!


----------



## rory

*Re: I'm very bad*



> 0.12 cent per unit is a small difference yes, but better in your pocket eh


I'm afraid I'm not convinced. According to a recent ESB bill, I used approx 500 units over a two-month period. With Airtricity I would have saved only 60c. That's far from the saving I would need to switch to any service.


----------



## nogser

*Re: I'm very bad*

When you did your calculation did you factor in the difference in the standing charges and PSO?  I compared my last bill and Airtricty was more expensive over the two months.  Perhaps I haven't seen the latest ESB price rises yet.

Nogser


----------



## rory

*Re: even more competition*

I compared the standing charge and PSO, and I think they were the same. I assume the PSO should be the same for all operators.

I think Airtricity will only be encouraged to lower their domestic prices if consumers fail to switch to them in significant numbers while at their current level.

Personally, I wouldn't switch to them unless I was going to save at least 5%.


----------



## taung

*Re: Airtricity V ESB*

Urban Domestic Case, _including PSO_:

Airtricity Standing Charges (per month):* €7.45* 

ESB Standing Charges (per month): *€6.32*

Stick with ESB 4 moment


----------



## diyguyjoe

*Re: Airtricity V ESB*

I changed about a few months ago. Just printed the form from the web and sent it in. Received a final bill from ESB and first bill from Airtricity. No problems so far.


----------



## zag

*Re: Airtricity V ESB*

I sent airtricity an email asking them what kind of outfit they were running when they couldn't get around to publishing prices on their website.  Well, I put it nicer than that.  They haven't responded.

Mrs zag is determined to help the environment and is going to make the move, but given the effort in trying to find out what I was going to save/lose financially I wouldn't be too bothered.

I rang them up and the helpfull person on the phone told me their prices are exactly the same as ESB.

z


----------



## heinbloed1

*Airtricity*

Thanks,zag.(I had the same experience with them.)


----------



## Bill

With respect to all the arguemens here about cost differentials - isn't the primary reason for switching for enviromental issues - it costs us nothing, but saves the world a little?


----------



## jrewing

Out of curiousity, do Airtricity produce enough energy to cover all their customers ? AFAIK they operate windfarms which produce about 5% of the national needs.

If no, do they sell the excess to ESB? If yes, are they buying the excess from ESB (which would negate the "green" element of buying from them?


----------



## zag

We switched to Airtricity some time last year.  Needless to say, since the distribution network didn't change everything operates just like it did when we were with ESB.

There seems to be some tomfoolery going on between Airtricity/ESB/enery regulator/government . . . but I haven't been able to keep track of it.  From what I can remember, Airtricity aren't allowed to fully join the grid (could be wrong) and so end up exporting some of their capacity to the North.  As I say it could be wrong, but it's along the lines of "You can generate it, you can sell it, you just can't sell what you generate", so it's some type of Catch-22.

All I know is that Airtricity has a dig at the ESB & the energy regulator at every opportunity.

z


----------



## anotherdub

Now you can compare all three -

For a basic unit in an urban 24 hour package 
ESB charge *16.4*c + VAT, 
Bord Gais Energy charge 10% (+2% with DD +2% with gas) less then this for one year (i.e. maximum *14.75*c) and 5% less for years 2 and 3 (i.e. 15.58c.)
and Airtricity charge between *14.76*c and 15.91c depending on the package.

Obviously there are other differences - standing charges, PSO rebate from ESB (not sure you get this with the other guys), etc.

ESB prices - [broken link removed]
Bord Gais prices - 
Airtricity prices -


----------



## Fnergg

anotherdub said:


> .....Obviously there are other differences - standing charges, PSO rebate from ESB (not sure you get this with the other guys), etc.....


 

The Standing Charge will be the same for all suppliers and the PSO rebate will apply to everyone as well. The differences are the unit charges.

Regards,

Fnergg


----------



## bren1916

Got my final ESB bill yesterday....apart from the cheaper units from Airtricity and Bord Gais...that ESB payrsie was the last straw!
Thank God for competition!!


----------



## RMCF

Surely even if there is no great saving to be made by switching to AirTricity we should all consider it anyway because, afaik, they generate all their energy from renewables, so it would be better for the environment.

I checked their site, and it doesn't appear to be any hassle at all to switch, so why not? The only thing that would stop me switching is there was any doubt that it might be more expensive.


----------



## Fnergg

bren1916 said:


> Got my final ESB bill yesterday....apart from the cheaper units from Airtricity and Bord Gais...that ESB payrsie was the last straw! Thank God for competition!!



Are you sure Bord Gais and Airtricity have not paid the 3.5% under the pay agreement? As successful and profitable companies they almost certainly have. The media gives the impression that the ESB is the only company in the land to have paid it (it is, after all, "bash the ESB" month) . That is definitely not the case.    

Regards,

Fnergg


----------



## SLS

RMCF said:


> Surely even if there is no great saving to be made by switching to AirTricity we should all consider it anyway because, afaik, they generate all their energy from renewables, so it would be better for the environment.
> 
> I checked their site, and it doesn't appear to be any hassle at all to switch, so why not? The only thing that would stop me switching is there was any doubt that it might be more expensive.


 
The only thing to monitor at the moment is the fact that the various discount rates being provided by both Bord Gais and Airtricity are based on Year 1 or for the moment rates. Although I think Bord Gais have said atleast 5% cheaper than ESB for up to 3 years.
If Great Britian is anything to go by, the way increased regulation works is initially competitors compare themselves to the monopoly provider for a period and then as people become more comfortable with switching the tariffs they offer to customers increase in complexity so you will forced to pay a lot of attention to really work out which offering is the cheaper for you.

Its like anything I guess, but constantly comparing between any of the providers would always be sensible..


----------



## RSMike

Fnergg said:


> Are you sure Bord Gais and Airtricity have not paid the 3.5% under the pay agreement? As successful and profitable companies they almost certainly have. The media gives the impression that the ESB is the only company in the land to have paid it (it is, after all, "bash the ESB" month) . That is definitely not the case.



From Last wednesdays independent:

_"Mr Mullins (Bord Gais CEO) has also been keeping a keen eye on Bord Gais's cost base and has not paid staff the 3.5pc instalment of the national pay deal which rival ESB paid in November last year"_

Personally, I decided to go with Airtricity as they seem to have a longer term commitment than Bord Gais to stay 10% under ESB prices and they have green credentials, mind you if everyone did suddenely start switching to Airtricity their limited input to the national grid could not make the numbers, so in the short term at least, I guess they would be forced to buy power from carbon burning generating plants, I'm sure a problem they would not mind having, ;-)


----------



## scallywag

According to the Airtricity website "79% of the electricity that we supply is renewable compared to only 9% being supplied by the ESB."


----------



## SLS

scallywag said:


> According to the Airtricity website "79% of the electricity that we supply is renewable compared to only 9% being supplied by the ESB."


 
Thats based on current volumes, if that increases significantly as suggested, they would have no option than to buy from the wholesale electricity pool, so in effect buying electricity generated by the likes of ESB, Viridian and even from the UK via the interconnector.

Just FYI more than anything, the regulator has set some required standards with regards to the generation of energy using renewable sources so Im sure as competition increases so will the advertising relating tomany of the suppliers with regards to their "green" energy


----------



## scallywag

Agreed SLS, those percentages for green energy could easily change. There's no guarantee, just as there isn't with the prices.

I was trying to decide who to switch to: Bord Gais or Airtricity. In the end I chose Airtricity because
1) they at least present themselves as favouring green energy, so of all the suppliers I think they're likely to be "greener"
2) Bord Gais pretty much promise to reduce the price benifit in years 2 and 3 to be only 5% less than ESB, whereas Airtricity don't say that. So Airtricity just might maintain a greater price difference.

It's clutching at straws but these were the only significant criteria I could think of.


----------



## selfbuilder

I switched to Airtricity yesterday through their website.  It was pretty straight forward and when it kicks in I will update this post.


----------



## RSMike

scallywag said:


> ........
> 2) Bord Gais pretty much promise to reduce the price benifit in years 2 and 3 to be only 5% less than ESB, whereas Airtricity don't say that. So Airtricity just might maintain a greater price difference.
> 
> It's clutching at straws but these were the only significant criteria I could think of.



Actually in the latest information available on the Airtricity website they say the following on their faq:

*"What happens if the ESB increase or decrease their prices?*

_We will endeavour to remain at this percentage discount on ESB tariffs."_ 


While I agree "we endeavour", is no cast iron guarantee that they will stay 10% under ESB rates, it looks like the discount might last longer than the Bord Gais one year commitment.

I guess if the regulator is soon to force a drop of residential gas/electricty prices by up to 20% we could find out pretty soon, 

In any case given there seem to be no contracts or limits associated with switching, it looks like inertia is the only anti-churn force, so pretty easy to "change sides" at will.


----------



## anotherdub

SLS said:


> If Great Britian is anything to go by, the way increased regulation works is initially competitors compare themselves to the monopoly provider for a period and then as people become more comfortable with switching the tariffs they offer to customers increase in complexity so you will forced to pay a lot of attention to really work out which offering is the cheaper for you.
> 
> Its like anything I guess, but constantly comparing between any of the providers would always be sensible..



This is the already case with telephone and broadband costs in Ireland - the packages from all operators have become quite complex it's very hard to make direct comparisions. This is exactly the intention of the operators once they achieve a reasonable market share. 
Expect to see the same happen in the electricity market in the coming years.


----------



## bren1916

anotherdub said:


> This is the already case with telephone and broadband costs in Ireland - the packages from all operators have become quite complex it's very hard to make direct comparisions. This is exactly the intention of the operators once they achieve a reasonable market share.
> Expect to see the same happen in the electricity market in the coming years.


 
Perhaps, but in the meantime I'll take the 10% saving on offer, along with doing a bit more for the environment... no brainer really.


----------



## Bubbles34

I just a guy from Airtricity in my shop. Told him that I just changed to Energia and now he tells me that they are based in Northern Ireland and that the VAT rate is more expensive? Is that true?


----------



## SLS

Bubbles34 said:


> I just a guy from Airtricity in my shop. Told him that I just changed to Energia and now he tells me that they are based in Northern Ireland and that the VAT rate is more expensive? Is that true?


 
Energia are based in NI, so therefore are subject to UK vat rates which increased in their last budget so yes that would be correct.
Im assuming you are speaking as a commercial customer because I didnt think they did domestic?  Please correct me if Im wrong however..


----------



## Fnergg

Bubbles34 said:


> I just a guy from Airtricity in my shop. Told him that I just changed to Energia and now he tells me that they are based in Northern Ireland and that the VAT rate is more expensive? Is that true?



Reply from SLS: *Energia are based in NI, so therefore are subject to UK vat rates which increased in their last budget so yes that would be correct.I'm assuming you are speaking as a commercial customer because I didnt think they did domestic? Please correct me if I'm wrong however.*.

Are you guys for real?

Do you not realise that VAT is levied by the exchequer of the jurisdiction in which the company operates and therefore Energia's ROI VAT rate will be no different to any other company's operating here. 

The Airtricity rep was either stupid or else was telling a porky. My bet's the latter. Nobody could be that thick, could they?  

Regards,

Fnergg


----------



## Bubbles34

yes you are correct, its commercial. They start domestic only in April 09

So I have nothing to worry about so. 

As I am new to all these VAT things I must looked like a complete idiot when he said they were based in Belfast and I didn't know


----------



## Bubbles34

Fnergg said:


> The Airtricity rep was either stupid or else was telling a porky. My bet's the latter. Nobody could be that thick, could they?


 
He said he would be back - at least I know what to say the next time


----------



## local

SLS said:


> Energia are based in NI, so therefore are subject to UK vat rates which increased in their last budget so yes that would be correct.



Wrong on both counts I believe:


The standard rate for Britain & NI was reduced to 15% in December.
And as Fnergg pointed out, if they are trading in ROI then you'll be charged the prevailing VAT rates here.


----------



## Bubbles34

local said:


> Wrong on both counts I believe:
> 
> 
> The standard rate for Britain & NI was reduced to 15% in December.
> And as Fnergg pointed out, if they are trading in ROI then you'll be charged the prevailing VAT rates here.


 

Let's just hope so. He just said that the bill will come from Belfast with their VAT rate. Thanks for clearing that up


----------



## Calico

Airtricity drop their rates today. They are now offering a plan that is 13% cheaper than ESB


----------



## anotherdub

Bubbles34 said:


> Let's just hope so. He just said that the bill will come from Belfast with *their *VAT rate. Thanks for clearing that up



Sounds like crossed wires somewhere between Viridian/Energia and here. Of course referemces like *our *or *their *do muddy the water somewhat.
ROI customers will be charged the ROI VAT rate of [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]13.5%.
[/FONT]NI customer will be charged the UK VAT rate of [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]15%.[/FONT]


----------



## selfbuilder

I switched to Airtricity over the internet on 24 February but have not heard from them since that day.  just wondering if anyone else has switched and have they been contacted.  Thanks.


----------



## Fnergg

selfbuilder said:


> I switched to Airtricity over the internet on 24 February but have not heard from them since that day.  just wondering if anyone else has switched and have they been contacted.  Thanks.



I wouldn't worry. Both Bord Gais and Airtricity are dealing with a large workload at present and some delays are inevitable.


----------



## CKT

Hi just about to switch, but wondering about the PSO Related rebate of 1.91 on my bill?? What is this and will I still get it with Airtricity.

And also, if after Jan 2010 they are not the cheapest, is there a charge to go back to ESB or board gais?? Thanks


----------



## Fnergg

CKT said:


> Hi just about to switch, but wondering about the PSO Related rebate of 1.91 on my bill?? What is this and will I still get it with Airtricity.
> 
> And also, if after Jan 2010 they are not the cheapest, is there a charge to go back to ESB or board gais?? Thanks


 

The PSO rebate applies to all suppliers so you will continue to get it from Airtricity. (The rebate is courtesy of the ESB arising from the sale of various generation stations).

There is no charge payable when switching from one supplier to another. You may be asked to pay a security deposit and/or pay by direct debit by the new supplier but there is no fee for switching.

Regards,

Fnergg


----------



## CKT

Fnergg said:


> The PSO rebate applies to all suppliers so you will continue to get it from Airtricity. (The rebate is courtesy of the ESB arising from the sale of various generation stations).
> 
> There is no charge payable when switching from one supplier to another. You may be asked to pay a security deposit and/or pay by direct debit by the new supplier but there is no fee for switching.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Fnergg




Thats Great, Fnergg, going to switch today, thanks


----------



## graham204

A guy just called to the house their from airticity, marketing fella, hate those types so told him I'd check out switching over myself-Did that and it seems like a good deal,13% savings on the electricity bill... I'd vote for that..but of course their has to be a catch which for now I can't see.
On a plus for Airtricity I've seen recently that the ESB have proposed 22 billion investment in renewable energy..seems to me that they think it`s the way to go and know it too.. they're basically telling us that renewable is the way to go so Airtricity might be a good choice.... but i just need more convincing, anyone want to volunteer some convincing stuff from switching over themselves?


----------



## WombleWilly

I switched over 2 years ago to Airtricity. Absolutely no problems.


----------



## camrock1

graham204 said:


> A guy just called to the house their from airticity, marketing fella, hate those types so told him I'd check out switching over myself-Did that and it seems like a good deal,13% savings on the electricity bill... I'd vote for that..but of course their has to be a catch which for now I can't see.
> On a plus for Airtricity I've seen recently that the ESB have proposed 22 billion investment in renewable energy..seems to me that they think it`s the way to go and know it too.. they're basically telling us that renewable is the way to go so Airtricity might be a good choice.... but i just need more convincing, anyone want to volunteer some convincing stuff from switching over themselves?


 
What part of the country are you in.


----------



## selfbuilder

I was switched over on the 9/3/09 and have just received my first bill with the reduced price.  Very happy with the switch so far.


----------



## Simeon

Went over to Airtricity end of February. Still to get a bill.


----------

