How you can get free electrical energy within the UK

I do know what you’re considering: what is that this ridiculous clickbait headline all about? Nicely, a few weekends in the past, I charged my electrical automobile, cooked lunch in my oven, and washed my garments completely without cost over a couple of hours. Final weekend, my electrical energy price lower than 8p per kWh to do the identical factor. On common, I’m presently saving 40 p.c on my electrical energy payments in comparison with the extortionate capped fee that most individuals within the UK are compelled to pay proper now.

So, how? Octopus Vitality, and I need everybody to learn about it.

I’ve obsessed over my electrical energy utilization over the previous few months because of a mixture of the UK’s vitality market costs and shopping for a brand new electrical car. A pal really useful Octopus Energy’s Agile contract, which gives variable pricing each half-hour primarily based on wholesale charges. He had been utilizing all of it winter with huge financial savings, as wholesale electrical energy costs have began to drop within the UK in latest months. In 2023, Octopus’ Agile costs have dropped far beneath the Vitality Worth Assure subsidy that the UK authorities launched to cap the utmost shopper costs for electrical energy after wholesale costs surged following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Octopus Vitality points its 30-minute charges each day at 4PM so you’ll be able to see when the perfect instances are to make use of your dishwasher, washer, oven, or cost an electrical automobile. Peak charges between 4PM and 7PM are sometimes the same old charges of 34p and even 35p per kWh, however outdoors of these instances, it has averaged at round 20p per kWh in latest months for me personally.

It can save you a bundle of cash in case you can shift your vitality utilization outdoors the height window. Even in case you can’t, you’re nonetheless going to avoid wasting as a result of, for round 20 hours of the day, the Agile charges are far beneath the usual ones.

A typical fee for electrical energy throughout UK suppliers proper now’s round 34p per kWh, with a every day service cost of as much as 50p. These charges and repair costs range barely per supplier, however the overwhelming majority of individuals within the UK are presently paying in extra of 30p / kWh. In July, the cap within the UK might be set at 30p per kWh, a fee that falls beneath the present Vitality Worth Assure and sees the Ofgem regulator return with its personal worth caps.

However this worth cap remains to be far past what I’m presently paying. Over the previous 28 days, I’ve used a median of 16kWh per day at a fee of 16.9p per kWh as a substitute of the 34p per kWh I’d have paid on a normal fee. That’s a saving of practically 50 p.c in comparison with what most individuals would pay for a similar quantity of electrical energy.

So why have I and plenty of others not heard about this till not too long ago? Variable fee tariffs are dangerous. Octopus Energy markets Agile as a tariff that’s preferrred for individuals with EVs, storage heaters, or anybody who can shift their vitality utilization outdoors of peak instances. However it additionally warns that costs can spike as much as 100p per kWh at any time, thrice greater than the usual charges proper now. That sounds scary, but it surely’s one thing that not often occurs. In truth, it hasn’t peaked previous greater than 40p per kWh in any respect in most locations within the UK in 2023.

That’s largely as a result of wholesale costs have been dropping, creating extra secure averages and moments of plunge pricing the place you get hours of free electrical energy. You may see within the chart above that pricing has dropped to 0p per kWh or beneath a number of instances over the previous six months on Octopus Vitality Agile.

Regardless of the reductions seen in latest months, you may also see a sustained spike for many of December, the place the utmost costs shot as much as 80p per kWh, a really costly fee that prospects would have seen principally in the course of the peak 4PM to 7PM window. If wholesale costs proceed to stabilize and drop, hopefully we gained’t see a repeat of this once more this winter. If costs do shoot up, you’ll be able to at all times simply instantly change again to the usual fee, which might be capped by Ofgem’s assure.

This volatility does make it onerous to suggest such an vitality tariff to everybody within the UK, which is another excuse most individuals gained’t have heard about Agile. Client advocate Martin Lewis, higher generally known as the “Money Saving Expert,” has been pushing the federal government regularly to assist with electrical energy costs, however he’s not often really useful individuals change to variable fee tariffs. Customers within the UK have been trying to Lewis’ suggestions all through this vitality and value of dwelling disaster, however he did spotlight Octopus Vitality’s “intelligent” Agile tariff in April. Now that we now have six months of secure information, I feel it’s time to start out recommending Agile till we now have first rate mounted charges again in the marketplace.

In the event you’re savvy sufficient to trace the every day costs, then you definately’ll profit enormously right here. I’ve personally changed into an Octopus Vitality salesman with my family and friends, as the corporate even affords a referral program the place you break up £100 with a pal you suggest to the service. I exploit the superb Octopus Watch iOS app for alerts on when costs plunge and to see worth charges over 24-hour intervals, however Octopus additionally publishes these in its personal cell app and web site.

You will want the most recent SMETS2 sensible meter (some SMETS1 are supported), although, to have the ability to routinely ship meter readings to Octopus Vitality and use Agile. In the event you don’t have a wise meter, you’ll be able to nonetheless change over, and Octopus will prepare for a meter set up. Octopus has additionally began advertising and marketing its Tracker tariff not too long ago, which is analogous to Agile however has extra restrictions on how lengthy it takes to exit out if costs go the fallacious method.

It’s additionally simply refreshing to make use of a utility firm that’s environmentally pleasant and has nice customer support. In an more and more inefficient and broken UK energy market, Octopus Vitality is method out forward supplying inexperienced vitality with probably the greatest software-as-a-service merchandise I’ve ever seen within the UK.

Finally, I hope to automate a lot of this with sensible residence tech and shops to restrict the time I’m monitoring charges. However figured I’d share this tip proper now in case it helps prevent some nice British kilos.