Cheapest fuel prices from first:utility
Published: 16 January 2009
By MoneyhighStreet Staff 1 Comment
Updated: 2 February 2009
The independent utility company, first:utility, has this week announced the addition of gas to its energy supply offering. This, it claims, is at a price which means it is now the cheapest dual fuel provider for all UK households.
first:utility are an innovative company, now offering electricity and gas services as well as their original phone and broadband services.
Mark Daeche, Chief Executive of first:utility, said ‘With the launch of the gas supply, first:utility now offers consumers a real alternative to the Big Six. Whilst the government puts pressure on the Big Six to lower prices and introduce smart metering, we have already done both.’
He went on to say ‘As an independent player outside the Big Six, we are a nimble organisation which is able to respond quickly to the fluctuating market conditions, and pass on real benefits to consumers.’
The reference to smart metering by Mark Daeche, refers to their Smart Meters which allow you to monitor your energy consumption. The meters are monitored remotely and you can check your usage on your own online personal account.
There is an installation charge for these Smart Meters. For electricity this is £49 and for dual fuel £99.
By being able to monitor usage, Energywatch, now part of Consumer Focus, believe that you can reduce your energy costs by up to 15%. You can see where energy is being wasted and take action accordingly. For example, this may include turning electrical items off rather than leaving them on standby.
Not only do the Smart Meters help you to save on your energy costs, they also ensure you have accurate billing.
first:utility have also introduced their Smart Tariff which allows you to choose the best tariff to suit your use of electricity across night and day. This improves the options and flexibility compared with the basic Economy 7 tariff offered by the main suppliers.
first:utility are growing their presence through strong marketing and are now working with the utility price comparison website uSwitch. They currently provide over 6,000 homes with their energy supply.
First Utility sounds good, especially with smart metering. But Smart Metering won’t work with dumb prices. First Utility makes some key mistakes:
1. The most important price indicator on energy prices is when energy is used, not how much. FU (a very unfortunate acronym!) needs to educate end users, not cater to their baser instincts and get into comparing prices on an annual basis. (Note that uswitch.co.uk say that the FU dual fuel option is about 20% up on 30 other tariffs/suppliers)
2. On Gas, the rate of 3.62 pence per kWh is almost double the current January wholesale price, and could easily be three or four times the July or August price by then. This does include transportation, but still gives them a mammoth margin. FU should differentiate themselves from everyone else: Smart Metering is a smart move, but give people prices no different from everyone else and they’ll end up no different from anyone else. Smart Metering is going to be offered by many, many, more people than FU .
3. Their web site shows they still want to pay commission to Third Party Introducers, even though Ofgem will probably make that unworkable soon when TPIs will be obligated to show commission. They have a great product, why on earth pay a third party to speak to their customers!