Getting in quick

A few posts back I deliberated what best to do after my two-year fixed-price contracts for Gas and Electricity with SSE come to an end on 1st December. At that time they had nothing to offer me. But a couple of days ago, when I fired up the SSE app on my phone, I saw that they had cobbled together three ongoing options.

These were:

# Go onto their Standard tariff, estimated to cost me £123 a month (with a variable price), compared with £110 a month (fixed price) just now, but coming to an end.

# Move to their Two Year Fixed tariff, which they reckon would cost me £223 a month.

# Move to their Three Year Fixed tariff, costing £162 a month.

Should I stay with SSE? Well, I do think it would be good policy to sit tight with a major supplier. SSE have been a decent well-organised supplier, never giving me trouble: that counts for something. Also, they installed my smart meter a few years ago, so that they constantly monitor my energy consumption and never have to send me estimated bills. Shifting to a new supplier might mean my existing meter no longer communicates information, with possible hassle resulting. So, all in all, it seems best not to change suppliers. 

Which SSE option, then?

It's almost a no-brainer to go for the Standard tariff. Not quite, because a Three-Year Fix is always worth thinking about. But I can't see the advantage in paying £51 a month more, just to have long-term energy-price certainty, when the government's Price Cap policy will be in force until 2023, meaning that the Standard tariff, though certain to get a big hike every six months, will remain cheaper than a fixed deal for maybe a year ahead. 

Do I need to act now? I'm on holiday! Surely this can be left for a month or so more?

Well, I don't think so. I think even big companies like SSE (now part of the even larger Ovo group) will look askance at offering rock-bottom variable-price deals by the zillion. The Price Cap forces them to do it, but it's a loss-maker for them, and they may come to decide that, for the future, only a restricted class of customers allocated to them by Ofgem from other suppliers who have gone bust can have their least-expensive option. The rest will have to move to a different (more expensive) kind of deal - or go elsewhere. 

That might apply to me. So I've acted now. I'm moving to SSE's variable tariff, and have confirmation of that from them. Effective 2nd December. 

So until April just a little more to pay each month. Then, when the Price Cap is inevitably raised, rather more for the following six months, though still less than a Fixed deal. And a year from now, I'll be getting out my crystal ball and deciding afresh what to do. Or sooner, depending on what happens on the volatile energy market. 

It's impossible to feel happy about Gas and Electricity prices, now or in the future. The only certainty is that they will regularly increase. All one can do is plan ahead on one's best hunch, and act at the proper moment.