9th December 2024
Hello All!
As the Financial pressure season approaches there’s a lot out there that can help, one of the newest things we are seeing are a Few Energy Companies making offers of Free energy on Christmas day and we wanted to give you a good idea of how these work as plainly as possible.
I’d like to first say, that we do really welcome any initiative that helps reduce the cost of energy over winter, it’s a financially stressful time for people simply because of the cost of staying warm. What we would like though is more simplicity and ease of access to these offers, as it does require a bit of footwork, or potentially may cost you further down line, here is what exists now:
EDF –
If you sign up to their energy savings scheme “Sunday saver challenge” and reduce your usage between 4-7pm Mon – Sat, you can get free energy on a Sunday, the amount of free energy you get depends on how much energy saving you do. As a one off, they will include some free energy on Christmas day.
Details are Here
British Gas –
You have to sign up to PeakSave. Where any energy you use on a Sunday is half price via a “credit back” scheme (you get half the cost back as a credit on your account) and this will run on Christmas day and Boxing Day. Not too bad either but keep an eye that the credit is applied,
details are Here
E.on, Available until the 15th December –
Free energy on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing day, actually charged £0.00 and includes no standing charge, a genuinely Free offering – But you have to sign up for an 18-month* Tariff at Elec 22.4p kWH (54.7p Standing Charge), Gas 6.22p kWH (31.72p Standing charge) which is currently better than the CAP below. This will lock you in at the current rates, so a bit of a gamble as usually Fixing during the summer gets you better rates for the rest of the year (see the Price cap history graph below)
Details are Here
*It’s worth noting this was originally a 12-month fixed term if you signed up before the 9th, but that deadline has passed and it’s now 18-months.
Current Price Cap Rates
Price Cap history:
Accessibility:
All tariffs require Smart meters, the Energy Saving schemes require 30-minute reading updates. Not particularly accessible if you are on a pre-payment meter already (as this may push you into online top up’s only) and may not benefit you if you can’t control the energy use of the household.
It also pushes more people onto Smart Meters, with the downside of Energy Suppliers being able to switch customers to Prepay if they fall behind with bills, without any court order, as the court order is for access to the property, not for the meter to be switched and Smart meters can be changed to prepay remotely, getting around the need for an order for access. This takes away customers rights and a something we would like to see stopped.
In Summary:
These offers can save you money, but they all require an investment of time or potential future costs which for people in a vulnerable position can be a struggle to manage.
The gesture is wonderful, but if all Energy Companies could simply offer a free energy credit on Christmas day to all without hoops to jump through or long-term sing-ups, that would make a true difference.
Thanks for reading,
Louis Zarins-Brown