[Desserper]

Bulb announce price rises, is this the start of the end of for Bulb?

They have been growing aggressively. Seem to take about £50 in advance from new customers to cover referral fees? Is their business model sustainable? Time will tell. I recently joined Bulb just in time to qualify for the price increases from August 12th

"We're increasing our tariff for the average UK home by 5.1%. The average home will see their annual tariff increase from £879 to £923 - a rise of £4 per month. Existing members will stay on their current rates for 60 days until 12th August. New members will start on our new rates straight away."

Energy price watch: our prices are going up

 

[DBMandrake]

Beginning of the end ? I don't think so.

Bulb have always provided only a variable rate tariff and have promised to drop prices quickly when wholesale prices drop and raise them as slow/late as possible when wholesale prices go up.

In the year and a half I've been with them they have stuck to this promise. If wholesale prices have gone up 21% since February and only just now they're advising of a 5.1% increase to take effect on the 12th of August I think that's pretty good going actually!

And if this small rise still makes them cheaper than most other suppliers and one of the cheapest renewable generation suppliers then I don't see a problem.

Wholesale prices will inevitably fluctuate and so will the retail price of a variable rate tariff based on them. The true test will be whether they drop prices again quickly when wholesale costs go down again, (which the big 6 are notorious for not doing) so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in the meantime.

Would I go back to SSE ? Not a chance. Would I take a punt on one of the small newer entrants who are slightly undercutting bulb ? Probably not for a tiny savings.

When did they start taking £50 in advance ? You're not confusing that with the first month being in advance are you ? One thing that caught me out with Bulb when I switched is that you do pay for the month in advance rather than in arrears, but they've always been that way.

 

[AndrewC]

End of Bulb? Growing 'aggressively'? That's one spin on it. Growing vigorously. That's another.

I agree with DBMandrake's take.

 

[nattydread]

Better bulb than the "big 6"

 

[Desserper]

Maybe I am being overly pessimistic then. I have not had much luck with energy companies in last 2-3 years, but that's a long story. When I moved to GB Energy Supply, they folded shortly after. The ombudsman transferred me to Co-Op who honoured the deal I had with GB, but then soon started continually sneaking the price up after. So just moved to Bulb recently and now they are on the way up. Okay so it is renewable which is good. Better than the big 6 as some say to. I do think there are still a few question marks with Bulb being relatively young and they have a business model from what I can see that they use referrals for advertising, that are funded from advance account payments, and a fast and rapid growth policy. Maybe they will be fine, maybe they will stay competitive for all I know. But just putting the ??? question marks on it really.

 

[DBMandrake]

Given that they are pretty transparent about what they are doing on their blog and they have no termination fee with only one month's notice required, you can jump ship at any time. That alone makes me feel comfortable staying.

I get a good vibe from Bulb, and that's saying something for a company in the gas/electricity supply market, where you're normally used to dealing with big faceless corporations.

When companies start trying to lock me in for 12 months with early termination fees, that's when I start questioning whether they are trying to pull one over on me...

 

[donald]

I've some concerns about the direction of travel for electricity costs. Bulb at 15p/kWh, sheesh, I did not think I would see that sort of price become one of the 'cheapest' prices, let along the norm.

I would have had solar years ago with the FITs but we have no suitable roof.

I have spotted a cheaper new guy on the block also offering 100% renewable; "economyseven.co.uk". Seems 'cheap' by comparison. No user ratings yet I can find.

 

[phproxy]

@donald economyseven.co.uk is outfoxthemarket, plenty of reviews for them.

 

[DBMandrake]

I've some concerns about the direction of travel for electricity costs. Bulb at 15p/kWh, sheesh, I did not think I would see that sort of price become one of the 'cheapest' prices, let along the norm.

Where do you get 15p/kWh from ? My bill says 12.48p/kWH including VAT. After it goes up by 5.1% in August it will be 13.12p/kWh.

 

[Peter Cittern]

I'm with Bulb, they increased E7 to 8.2p and daytime to 15.7p a short time ago. They are still coming out as cheapest for me on uSwitch and similar sites.

 

[dpl]

Where do you get 15p/kWh from ? My bill says 12.48p/kWH including VAT. After it goes up by 5.1% in August it will be 13.12p/kWh.

Don't forget the price varies quite a lot between DNO regions. I'm 12.6p/kWh in south Scotland after the price rise, but north Scotland it's 13.75p/kWh - not quite up to 15p, but still a chunk more.

 

[Mr_G]

The other day the relevant Energy Minister Claire Perry, while talking about affordable 'green' energy and encouraging people to shop around, indicated who her energy supplier was - Bulb.

 

[DBMandrake]

One month after Bulb's nationwide (?) November price increase which is largely a gas price increase, I get this email:

We’re lowering your prices
Hi Simon,

Good news! We're lowering your gas unit rate by 4.20% to even-out some differences in our tariff between regions. Because of this, your energy will be around ---------- cheaper per year.

Your new gas unit rate is 3.682p per kWH and your electricity unit rate stays the same.

We’re also removing the dual fuel discount of £30 per year and replacing it with lower standing charges for gas and electricity. They’ll both be £15 lower from now on. This’ll make it easier for you to compare Bulb with other suppliers to make sure you're getting a great deal. And it won’t cost you anything more.

Your new standing charges are 20.44p per day (£74.62 per year) for gas and 20.44p per day (£74.62 per year) for electricity.

So at least in the central Scotland area, they are now dropping their gas prices back down by 4% from the (larger) November rise. I wonder what brought on this unexpected drop ? It's welcome regardless of the reason of course, even though it only partly offsets the November increase, and I notice that loop/uswitch is no longer nagging me to switch to another provider and now says my tariff is "competitively priced" again...

 

[donald]

I made it perfectly clear that the reason I was swapping my gas was that they simply were not competitive. So Energy was offering 3.2p/kWh gas versus Bulb's 3.8p/kWh. No contest. I presume many did likewise. I now have split supplies, Bulb remains for delivering electricity.

I am unclear if you can pick Bulb only for electricity when joining, maybe you have to pick both then move the gas.

Is there anyone else offering better than Bulb for electricity at the moment?

 

[phproxy]

Varies by region, but Octopus Go (check rates here) is cheaper than Bulb for our usage..

Bulb:

Octopus GO:

00:30-04:30 = 5p per kWh

Then the rest of the time is:

 

[donald]

Varies by region, but Octopus Go (check rates here) is cheaper than Bulb for our usage..

Bulb:

Octopus GO:

00:30-04:30 = 5p per kWh

Then the rest of the time is:

Thanks for the link, but a quick check shows Octopus is not a good price in my area.