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Re: Contacting Scottish Power
Hi DaveD Is this about the standard rate cap. The daily standing charge can be whatever, as long as the annual calculation comes out right. Interesting that the Standard rate is now cheaper than all SPs fixed rates, that has never happened before. But the press says the standard rate will change again in the spring.
Re: Contacting Scottish Power
Hi Davc, Yes this is sort of about the standard rate but if you look at all the other "offers" from SP they have hiked the daily standing charge even higher. I think they are getting greedy but that is only my own opinion.
DaveD
Re: Contacting Scottish Power
High DaveD I have been monitoring tariff terms a long time now. Some tariffs have low standing charge and high p/kWh. Others have the reverse, high standing and low p/kWh. These options suit low users and high users respectively. The overall annual typical user costs shown on the tariffs page take into account both. High standing charges are not necessarily profiteering, it depends what suits your consumption.
I think this pricing structure is one of the big problems in price transparency. If there was no standing charge we could just check the p/kWh and buy our power like we buy petrol based on unit costs. Ofgem have not taken this route and have supported the exstisting system.
Re: Contacting Scottish Power
Hmm....why should someone who uses less power because of their circumstances have to pay a higher standing charge? The standing charge as I see it is a fixed figure to cover the grid connection to your home. Does this really change from house to house etc. Nope I'm not convinced .
DaveD
DaveD
Re: Contacting Scottish Power
Dave, you are right standing charge was originally to cover fixed costs while the unit costs were according to your variable usage. For some time now the fixed element has lost all relevance to actual costs and geography and it is now used to tailor tariffs to individual needs. It has dropped out of the accountants realm and fallen into the marketing department realm. So if you have a holiday home you can opt for a low standing charge and you can accept a high unit cost because you are only there occasionally. Or, if you have a mansion and use 10000 kWh a year you can opt for low unit costs and put up with a high fixed cost.
I dont like fixed costs full stop. They are confusing and make the whole tariff system opaque. On top of this we have regional pricing which adds another layer of confusion. East coast people tend to pay less for gas because that is where the pipelines come in.
I live in the old Manweb area which is Mersey and north Wales, it was taken over by SP back some time ago. My main cost is gas, electricity is quite small in comparison,
Re: Contacting Scottish Power
Davc We agree on this divisive piece of work and I'm annoyed that the regulator didn't have the balls to sort it out. But I must say that OFGEM have really no say whatsoever, It just appears to keep a lot of people in employment at our expense.
DaveD
DaveD
Re: Contacting Scottish Power
I think getting contact with SP is a total nightmare, how do you send an email?, every time I try this, it comes up, couldn't send?
Re: Contacting Scottish Power
Ah William33 you are asking the question of life, the universe and everything.
contactus@scottishpower.com is the usual email way but this is rerouted to a call centre in india so good luck on that one.
If you have an old paper bill you may find that a Scottish geographical telephone number is on there and while it might not be quick (they've cut UK staff) you will normally get a really nice Scots person to talk to.
This may help...
DaveD
Re: Contacting Scottish Power
Easier said than done, to pay outstanding debts, when I am being billed for two accounts and two meters, one of which is not mine. The account linked to the wrong meter is billing me at the right tarif (agreed by phone back in August and paid by direct debit each month), the account linked to my meter is billing me at a standard tarif which is completely unacceptable to me as the daily standing charge is much higher. Have sent an e-mail to SP with my complaint and am still waiting for a reply.
Re: Contacting Scottish Power
Hope you get a good response Jackie. It should be straightforward to sort out. Have you told them the numbers of the two meters and which should be the correct one. (Why do you have two meters? It is very unusual, Do you mean you should only have one and the other is owned by someone else?)
