Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

Today: The Energy Price Cap gets 7% cheaper
 Yet you can save 10% MORE via the cheapest fix & get peace of mind rates definitely won't rise
New. Cheapest fix! Or lower users can get a £100 off standing charges tariff

If you're not already on a fixed energy deal or special tariff, you - like 2/3 of homes in Eng, Scot & Wales - are on your firm's bog-standard default tariff, which means its price is dictated by the regulator, Ofgem's Price Cap.

The good news is that Cap has been cut by 7% today, meaning for every £100 you were paying, for the same energy use you'll now roughly pay £93. Yet that's still 10% higher than this time last year, and the current prediction is it won't get much cheaper.

So, frankly, the Price Cap still looks a Pants Cap - if you're on it, you're likely overpaying...

- You can lock in 10% cheaper with the cheapest fixes.
- Low usage? You may be better off with a £100 off standing charges tariff.
- Sophisticated user? Try possibly v cheap rapid price change deals.
- Got an electric car? There are specialist EV tariffs.

Let me take you through it step-by-step...

1. Unsure if you're on the Price Cap? You probably are. The Cap applies to all firms' standard consumer tariffs - the default one you're on if you've never changed, or not switched since your fix ended. And while it's called a Cap, in reality almost all firms price very near to the max. Here are the most common Cap names...

2. It isn't a Cap on what you pay... it limits firms' daily standing charges and cost per unit of energy used. That means use more and you pay more. The Cap varies by region and payment method. Our updated 'What will I pay from today?' calc works out your new energy costs. To give you an idea, here are today's new Direct Debit averages.

As the cost of gas has dropped around 9%, compared to 5% for electricity, those with gas will typically see bigger falls.

3. THE CHEAPEST FIXES: Lock in at 10% LESS than today's Price Cap. A fixed tariff is where the rate is set for, usually, a year or more. Its prime advantage is you get peace of mind of no price rises, but currently there are also direct savings too, as even after today's Price Cap fall, the fixes available are materially cheaper than it. Today's new Price Cap, like all of them, only lasts three months. For what's next, see Price Cap predictions below.

Mid-sized firm Ecotricity* has just launched a 1yr fix that is the new cheapest, which on average saves you just over 10% compared to the current Cap. Ecotricity says it's "100% green" (15% self-generated, the rest "from green generators/wholesale markets") and "profits are reinvested into new green infrastructure rather than paid as dividends." 

To find your cheapest, use our whole-of-market by default Cheap Energy Club comparison, as your exact winner depends on where you live & how much you use

Q. I'm on prepay - can I fix? Yes, if you're on a smart meter. Sadly not if you're on old-school key or card meters. The cheapest smart prepay fix currently is EDF's 12mth fix (see above), which is 7% cheaper than the July Price Cap and has £50 per fuel early exit penalties.

Q. Can I just grab my existing provider's fix? Yes, but this is about getting a cheap fix - be careful not to lock in at a high price. Your provider's fixes should be in the Cheap Energy Club comparison, so use it to compare it to the cheapest. If it's not too far away, then go for it.

Q. Is getting a longer fix than these worth it? It gives you price certainty for longer, and means you needn't switch as frequently. Yet no price predictions go much beyond a year ahead. So it's tough to know - the more you value certainty over definitely getting the cheapest price, the better it is. It's worth noting too that the early exit penalties tend to get high the longer you fix for.

Q. What is 'MSE cashback'? Some providers pay energy comparison sites to facilitate the switch (you still get the same price as going direct). Yet unlike other sites, we don't default to hiding tariffs that don't pay. Instead, we show them all, but when we get paid to switch you, we give you a chunk of it as cashback, so those that pay us are relatively cheaper for you, so likely more people switch to them. Win-win.

If you're a low user, MSE cashback can boost savings even more, as it'll make up a bigger effective discount - we factor the cashback into your savings on Cheap Energy Club so you can see.

4. The cheapest fixes are predicted to substantially undercut the Price Cap over the next year (though nowt's set in stone). The Price Cap rate moves every three months, changing mainly due to moves in wholesale costs. Yet there's a time lag.

The next Cap, starting in Oct, is based on average wholesale costs from mid-May to mid-Aug prices (so we're halfway through it). Currently, the current prediction is for the Cap to stay roughly flat (far better than was predicted). The graph and table below take you through it...

As you can see, forecasts spiked due to the Israel - Iran Middle East conflict. Now that's calmed, wholesale rates have dropped back to where they were. Yet as the Price Cap is based on a three-month average, the fact it spiked isn't irrelevant - that spike is now baked into Oct's price.

That means we'd need continued much lower prices to see a decent-sized cut coming in Oct, and very substantial drops for it to bring Oct's rates down to anything close to the current cheapest fixes.

However, once you get to next Jan's Cap, it's crystal-ball gazing. Nothing is baked in, so global political changes could lead to big swings one way or the other. Yet all we can do is go on the current predictions...

Of course, if you fix and prices rise, you're quids in. So, perversely, the actual concern is that things get much cheaper, so much so that it's lower than the rate of current cheapest fixes.

Remember, you're always free to leave a fix... you just may need to pay the early exit penalties (you can always leave penalty-free within the last 49 days of your fix). These are typically £50/fuel for a 1yr fix, so just a few percent of a typical annual bill (though a bigger relative hit for lower users).

If prices really dropped, ditching a fix would be a reasonable option, and it's very likely if you got one of today's cheapest fixes, you'd at least have been saving for the next two Price Caps - so six months - anyway.

While past performance is no predictor of the future... as my infographic below shows, at every point over the last year, on average, you'd have been better off getting the cheapest 12mth fix than going on the Price Cap.
5. £100 OFF standing charges beats fixes for lower users. There's nothing bigger in my energy emailbag than complaints about the (moral hazard that are) £300ish a year standing charges, the amount you pay just for the facility of having gas & electricity even if you don't use it. There are plans for a no standing charge Price Cap option sometime this winter, but nowt is confirmed. Right now though...

• Get £100 off the Price Cap with a tracker tariff. The EDF Simply Tracker Extra tariff* tracks the Price Cap until 30 Sept 2026 - so it will move with that - but has a £50/yr lower standing charge for gas, and £50/yr for electricity, so if you use it for both, that's a flat £100/yr cheaper. So for those with very low usage (under roughly £85/mth) where the standing charges make up a larger portion of the bill, this can be a decent saving.
  
  The best thing to do is use the Cheap Energy Club comparison, so you can see how it stacks up for you on the current Price Cap (and you get £20 MSE cashback if you switch via that).
  
  It's available for new & existing customers on gas, elec or dual fuel, and allows most payment options, including smart prepay. Early exit penalties are £25 per fuel.

• Octopus Energy Tracker & Agile. These are best for sophisticated users who get how energy markets work, though they can be very cheap for everyone who has (or gets) a smart meter. With the Octopus Tracker tariff, rates change daily based on wholesale costs. It's been 30% cheaper than the Price Cap on average over the last year, but over the winter, it had periods of being costlier (especially when wholesale rates are higher).
  
  The elec-only Octopus Agile tariff's rates change half-hourly, based on wholesale prices. It can even pay you to use energy in the middle of the night, but may be very costly at peak times. It's good for those who can nimbly shift their usage to take advantage of super-cheap times or who have battery storage.
  
  The Octopus tariffs are only available for existing customers, though to get 'em, you could first try switching to the Flexible Octopus Price Cap tariff, then once in, switch to one of these.

7. Got an electric vehicle? Consider a dedicated EV tariff. Several firms offer specific tariffs with cheaper electricity overnight for charging your electric vehicle (EV). Full details in our EV tariffs guide, but in brief, there are two types:

• 'Add-on' tariffs, where you can only charge your car on the cheaper rate. Ovo and Scottish Power offer these, so you can add EV charging to whichever of their tariffs you're currently on, and you'll get a cheap rate to charge your EV at any time. All other electrical use in your home will be charged at your existing tariff rates. So if you can get a decent fixed tariff from these firms (there is a decent Ovo fix right now via Cheap Energy Club), the fact you can charge your EV even cheaper is a boon.
  
  
• Two-rate tariffs giving you cheaper elec overnight. Most EV tariffs offer five to seven off-peak hours a day (typically from midnight to 5am) and charge around 7p to 10p per kilowatt hour of elec use (the current Price Cap rate is 25p to 29p), though peak rates can sometimes go above the Price Cap rate. The benefit here is if you've other appliances that you can use overnight, they'll cost less too.

8. Are solar panels worth it? As well as helping you save on energy bills, solar panels can earn you cash - but they cost an average of £6,000. See our Are solar panels worth it? guide.

9. Can you cut bills by cutting your use? Obviously, cutting use cuts bills, so we've some detailed guides that can help:

- 70+ ways to save energy includes a mix of hardcore savings and some thrifty crowd-sourced tips. From cutting your boiler flowrate to tactical curtains, getting the right freezer temp and more.
- Energy mythbusting covers less clear-cut issues, such as: 'Is it expensive to run an electric fan?'

10. What to do if you're struggling to pay. It's always worth talking to your energy firm. Be polite and straight with it, and make sure you explain if you're vulnerable. There can be hardship & debt grants from energy suppliers. For far more guidance, see our full What to do if you're struggling to pay energy bills guide.