Wow! First month's new energy bill

[JadeSeahorse]

Received our bill for the month of April - first one including huge price hike. (Octopus)

Have cut down where we can. Unplugging things at night, line drying washing much, much more, economy setting for washer, dishwasher etc. heating on 14 degrees so hardly ever on, (We are just using gas fire occasionally in the sitting room as house is really well insulated.). Never even bothered previously as the cost wasn't really an issue.

Last year the bill for the month was £102 in total for dual fuel when we weren't cutting back at all. This year - £183! Fortunately, we can easily afford the extra but, my God, how on earth are people on low incomes/tight budgets going to afford this sort of rise? This is seriously scary!

Anyone else had their first month's new bill as yet and how was it?

I did my readings yesterday and was a bit shocked by my £80 gas and £140 electricity usage. We only came off our fix in February so there's been a big jump just from that.

It is going to be terrifying for a lot of people.

People just don't deserve this and especially after the 2 years we have just endured.

I daren't even think what the Autumn/Winter months are going to be.😩

My monthly dual fuel payment has jumped from £58/month to £121/month.

I'm Octopus too. Old monthly electricity used to be about £140 a month. First month up to 28th April £219. Gas used to be £56 ISH to £70 over winter now first gas in April with heating only on for 1 hour on occasional evening £65.

I thought the increase was 54%?

These figures suggest it is a lot more! 🤬

We're with Bulb and have gone from £120 to £180 per month. It was £92 this time last year! That's for a 3 bed (over 3 floors plus a basement)end terrace.

I work with people with disabilities and their bills have been much, much higher. And if they receive care/support from their local authority they all have to pay a contribution to their care costs (typically over £100 per week each, paid from their benefits).

The increase in the standard variable rate was 54%. If you went from a fix to the increased SVR then it will be more than that

Were on Octopus too, bill for March was £80 gas and £40 electric.... April was identical, however we had a week away on holiday and obviously the heating has been on less .... we are paying £163 DD up from £69, hopefully our useage will continue to drop and we'll have a bit banked for the autumn.

The SVT rise was 54% but for people coming off fixes the increases can be and are an awful lot more.

The headline increases announced don't include VAT so the increase is actually %54 plus (154%x20%)

Mine was increased from £79 pcm to £220! I rang them and haggled them down to £175, still way more than 50% rise though

I'm actually amazed how very low some people's bills and DDs were before these rises . Before we moved18 months ago to Denmark our poorly insulated, rented 4 bed stone built Edwardian semi on 3 floors was a DD of £265 and I was around level all the time. That was just washing once a week, 1 daily shower and maybe 5 baths a week not using tumble dryer , cooking a fair bit and we like a warm house in winter. - just 2 of us. Our bills have been similar in Copenhagen. Moving back to a well insulated 4 bed detached with a better layout and much better windows- I don't think I'm going to notice much difference

Yep my has doubled, really not looking forward to October.
We can afford it in that we have the money, it will come out of the extra we have been trying to save for pensions.

@tkwal I thought it was 5% Vat on domestic energy bills?

My DD has gone from £90 to £150 - 2 bed end of terrace with 2 people WFH full time, we are with Bulb. My bill is around the 4th each month and was £112 last month, so far this month with 2 days to go it’s at £116. So should be around £125 once the last 2 days are included which is much better than I was expecting, especially as it’s been a fairly chilly April.

That was the increase for a hypothetical average user. Unless by chance your usage is that same as the hypothetical amount and you were already on the variable rate you own increase could be pretty much anything.

This was poorly communicated given the general low level of understanding of energy costs

God knows what’s happened with mine, I am currently over £800 in credit 😳

What does that mean? VAT on domestic energy is 5% and I'm almost certain that the hypothetical increase is on the gross cost (like 99.99999999999% sure unless you can show otherwise)

Sorry @Dementedpixie was talking about SVR which we are on.

I agree, moving from a fixed will be even worse.

Does anyone keep a record of how many units they use each month, rather than the actual cost? We were with Avro, who showed this online, but now that's gone and I can't remember how much the amounts varied (eg 100 units in December, 70 in April, 20 in July). I'd be really grateful if anyone felt able to share.

My actual usage (not DD) £110 last month £160 this month. The standing charge is the most upsetting bit for me. Usage was the same.

Actual usage for the month £132. We have oil central heating but all our cooking is on electric and we have electric showers. 4 bed house.

I can’t figure out if it’s cheaper to heat a tank of hot water with oil or use the shower which heats only what you need.

Our dd went from £120 to £207, we used £128 of fuel in April. Going by kwh we used 631of gas and 245 of electricity.

I keep a record, well as often as I remember to take a reading as I don't have a smart meter, but why would I share it? It's specific to my household.