# Airtricity increase standing charge.



## bstop (14 Jan 2011)

Airtricity have increased the daily standing charge. This will add approx. 14 euro to yearly charges. Bord Gais have not increased their standing charge and I dont think ESB have either. I was not given notification of this increase by Airtricity and they did not reply to an email complaint sent regarding this increase.


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## MANTO (14 Jan 2011)

I would question the legality of this. The standing charge is set by Bord Gais Networks as it goes towards the maintanence of the transmission / network system.

Also, Airtricity are now trying to lock new customers into a 12 month contract, which i would also question the legality of as market rules say customers can switch supplier whenever they want.


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## bstop (14 Jan 2011)

It is the standing charge for the electricity supply that I am referring to.
I presume this is set by the Energy regulator. Bord Gais has not increased this charge to its electricity customers.


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## corkrebel (14 Jan 2011)

> It is the standing charge for the electricity supply that I am referring to.
> I presume this is set by the Energy regulator. Bord Gais has not increased this charge to its electricity customers​


 
Hi bstop,Airtricity have been doing this all alone I came across this little ruse a number of months ago and like you I thought it was illegal, so I rang CER and was told no they are quite within their rights to do this, they did however contact them and all their ads now include a little piece saying that "standing charges may vary from other Suppliers" There is a whole plethora of charges with them, if you break the contract in certain circumstances they charge you €100. I read on another forum that if you bounce a cheque/direct debit they charge €20.
Are you saying that they have increased their standing charge again on top of what it already was????
Btw the whole trick with ALL suppliers seems to be to muddy the market so comparisons become more difficult so Airtricity announce 15% savings on ESB or what ever but the UNIT price may be cheaper but if the standing charge is significantly higher thats another story. Dont get me wrong they are definitly cheaper than ESB but that is because ESB is regulated, cant compete and have a very transparent regulated price structure. I dont doubt that once they are de regulated they will drop the unit price but whether they will Muddy the waters themselves remains to be seen.
THere was a very interesting post about the famous Jack Charleton 20% savings Bonkers.ie analysed it and you were better off with I think it was BGE and Flowgas have a root around it was on either here or BGE.​


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## serotoninsid (14 Jan 2011)

*So is B.Gais now cheper?*

I joined airtricity right back at the very start - when on paper they had the cheapest rate of all 3. Are we now saying that Bord Gais is no.1?

Whats the process for switching from Airtricity to BG?

(Yes, I know I can look this up - but I just wanted to tap the collected brains of aam - just to see if there is any sneaky stuff in getting out from under Airtricity).


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## corkrebel (14 Jan 2011)

NOt sure if those early adaptors are tied in with a contract or not, a lot depends on whether you are dual fuel I will see later on if I can find the original link it might be on Boards or try bonkers.ie. As I said all parties are muddying the waters and making it diffucult to do direct comparisons between the three deregulated companies


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## bstop (14 Jan 2011)

On my latest bill the standing charge is increased with effect from 01/01/2011. I only had electricity with them so there is no opt out penalty.
I rang up Bord Gais today and switched back to them.


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## corkrebel (14 Jan 2011)

This is what I was looking for, VERY interesting read 

[broken link removed]

*Airtricity Biggest Save eBundle*
Annual Cost:
*€1932.46*
*Bord Gais Paperless (electricity) & Flogas Standard (gas)*
Annual Cost
*€1936.14*

*Flogas Standard (gas) & Airtricity Smart Saver Online (electricity)*
Annual Cost:
*€1936.75*

Airtricity are cheapest if you use as much gas and electricity as they say, but there’s only €3.68 in the difference between them and a Flogas/Bord Gais mix. Plus if you were with Bord Gais and Flogas or Flogas and Airtricity, you wouldn’t be tied in for a year, which would allow you to wait and see what the new ESB has to offer.
What’s really interesting about this though is if you use something more akin to the Irish gas consumption figures, you get a different picture. If we use say 13,800 kW/h of gas and 6,000 kW/h of electricity, a Bord Gais & Flogas or an Airtricity & Flogas combination is actually cheaper than Airtricity’s Biggest Save deal.

*Flogas Standard (gas) & Bord Gais Paperless DD (electricity)*
Annual Cost:
*€1598.43*
*Flogas Standard (gas) & Airtricity Smart Saver Online (electricity)*
Annual Cost:
*€1599.03*
*Airtricity Biggest Save eBundle*
Annual Cost:
*€1624.51*


> So really what were seeing here is that the Airtricity deal is a good one regardless but particularly if you’re a high gas user. But if you’re a lower gas user and an average or higher electricity user, you’d be better off with Bord Gais or Airtricity for electricity and Flogas for gas.
> In the UK, home energy tariffs are now more complicated than mobile phone bills. Before long we’ll see the same thing in Ireland. Without a standard by which tariffs can be compared, savings figures from suppliers will become completely meaningless.


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## Guest105 (14 Jan 2011)

serotoninsid said:


> I joined airtricity right back at the very start - when on paper they had the cheapest rate of all 3. Are we now saying that Bord Gais is no.1?
> 
> Whats the process for switching from Airtricity to BG?
> 
> (Yes, I know I can look this up - but I just wanted to tap the collected brains of aam - jugst to see if there is any sneaky stuff in getting out from under Airtricity).


I have been with Airtricity for 18 months now and up until recently have been happy with their service. I had opted for internet billing and direct debit and they always texted me when the meter was due to be read, however, for past couple of billing periods they have failed to text me to remind me to read the meter resulting in expensive estimated bills and despite me ringing them a few times the problem wasn't rectified. Today after getting another est bill, i rang Bord Gais and made the big switch. Bord Gais will make all the arrangements with airtricity for the switch over, i didnt have to do anything apart from giving bank details for the direct debit, altogether i am saving 13 percent on ESB prices. The chap also said that they will always stay in competition with ESB.


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## serotoninsid (16 Jan 2011)

cashier said:


> I had opted for internet billing and direct debit and they always texted me when the meter was due to be read, however, for past couple of billing periods they have failed to text me to remind me to read the meter resulting in expensive estimated bills and despite me ringing them a few times the problem wasn't rectified.


Yes - I had this experience some months ago -although I got them to rectify it.  I wondered whether it was in fact policy rather than a system fault....

Is B.G. working out cheaper than airtricity then?


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## Time (16 Jan 2011)

There is no difference in price for simple electricity accounts.


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## Zest (24 Jan 2011)

When I worked as one of those door to door agents for Airtricity (possible bias alert) I had been told that Airtricity was the better option because they don't require a deposit and BG does. I am not sure if that is still the case, perhaps someone can clarify? I had been with them for a couple months in my previous home and it certainly seemed like I was getting cheaper bills, but I never actually got a gas bill (after 3 months!) so it's difficult to say. I can only imagine what was brewing on that gas bill.

Edit: We were also told to make a bit of noise over the fact that the standing charge remains the same across the board, so I would *definitely* question the legality of upping it.


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## Guest105 (24 Jan 2011)

I dont have to pay a deposit to BG, I got my final bill from Airtricity and its huge e


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## Meath Lady (24 Jan 2011)

Do Airtricity call and read the metre or just txt you to do it. I have recently signed up with them and presumed they hadn't called due to the very bad weather conditions.


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## serotoninsid (24 Jan 2011)

Meath Lady said:


> Do Airtricity call and read the metre or just txt you to do it. I have recently signed up with them and presumed they hadn't called due to the very bad weather conditions.


As far as i'm aware - ESB Networks take care of that - regardless of who the supplier is.  I think they only have to do it a few times a year.

I always submit the reading - have it set up so they txt and mail a reminder to sub the reading - and you have 3 days to do so..


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## horusd (24 Jan 2011)

Meath Lady said:


> Do Airtricity call and read the metre or just txt you to do it. I have recently signed up with them and presumed they hadn't called due to the very bad weather conditions.


 

Yep ESB Networks still do the readings as do the gas equivalent if you have  alternative gas supplier.


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