Ferdinand

Did that cause problems with implementing the charge of tariff? Thanks

That looks useful. Thanks. I am being told £70 plus £40 for delivery (for up to 40!) for food grade steam cleaned. At that price it seems worth it.

Ask me next July !

The first of those is some way off. Do you mean 2050? Current demand is around 300 Twh. This is from the "6th Carbon Budget": https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Sector-summary-Electricity-generation.pdf Current predictions for 2030 are around 10-10% up on today.

I had a chat to my lettings agent who manages a couple of student houses. It seems that they (excellent agent !) have something in the contract which is some sort of version of a fair usage agreement which means that if usage / bills spike too high, there is a possibility of the Ts picking up part of the bill at the end of the year. I assume that is there from previous years to encourage students not (for example) to run max heating with windows open, and similar. Whether bills are inclusive / exclusive or a payment scheme managed by the agent has changed entirely from exclusive to inclusive here over the last decade. So they are now: a - Getting Smart Meters in, so students can see the amount being used in kWh and £££. b - Seeing if we are eligible for the rebate - maybe not as it's essentially a commercial tenancy. c - Already making the Ts aware of the issue. d - Making sure that boilers are switched to summer mode until October or so, where that might not normally happen. Fortunately houses are an EPC C. No idea what the outcome will be, though. F

I think that is a question we may have to face Europe-wide in about 15 years - give the current plethora of promises being made for eg offshore wind production. At present I have noticed: UK existing offshore wind capacity is 11-12GW. 3GW coming on stream this year. Current projects will make it 30GW by 2030. Govt has promised 50GW total by 2030 afaics. No idea what the goal is for 2050. Scottish approved at national level projects will add a further 25GW in the 2030s. And the Scottish Govt has talking points about how it already meets its own needs from lo carbon sources (may be household needs, though, not including industry an transport). Mons. Macaron promised 40GW by 2050 before his election. They are currently in a European Court fight with Belgium about building one across the Zeebrugge-Dover ferry route, as it was - or were when I last looked. Norway is going for 30 GW by 2040. Germany aims to build 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030, 40 GW by 2035 and at least 70 GW by 2045. In terms of average supply, that nameplate capacity can be multiplied by 50% for offshore wind, but then there is timeshifting and storage etc. And so ad infinitum. And that's ignoring solar, such as the 3.6GW interconnector Octopus are on board with for UK-Morocco. Plus continued reduction in demand is perfectly possible given usage levels in some places. From the UK point of view, If we are going to be established as a major renewable exporter, we need our position established soon enough to prevent less effective projects being developed or there will be a glut and market bloodbath. Ferdinand

These definitions may be slightly out of date. I think England now has am additional criterion related to the EPC band of the dwelling. Comparison is difficult because it is devolved, and they are all different. This is from Scottish Energy Action. I'd welcome anything more up to date. https://www.eas.org.uk/en/fuel-poverty-across-the-uk_50535/#:~:text=The definition of fuel poverty,an adequate standard of living.

I'm looking for an IBC to expand on the capacity of my water butts. Does anyone know of a source somewhere in North Notts / Derbys ie near Mansfield / Chesterfield? Thanks Ferdinand

If it was less prominent you could rebuild the wall, and term it "maintenance" !

I'm somewhat concerned that Cornwall Insight have become the only voice covered on this. An effective monopoly on media commentary is always a bad sign. I'm also concerned that both contenders to be PM are taking the Boris Buttsitting approach.

The average numbers, which are good enough for most things, are here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/check-if-energy-price-cap-affects-you These are the Typical Domestic Consumption Values which OFGEM use to get to £1971 etc, and their 3 levels. https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2020/01/tdcvs_2020_decision_letter_0.pdf They still seem to be using the 'current' ones for the Price Cap. Our media, being useless plank-like scaremongering morons, use the middle number and pretend it applies to everyone. eg .28*3100+.45*365+.27*365+.07*12000 = 1970.8.

Octopus Outgoing T&C. Not very edited ! octopus-outgoing-tc.txt

Suspect we need to be distinguishing between Octopus Agile and Octopus Outgoing Agile, or this may get confusing.

I ca see no reason for going fixed, and my focus is on reducing usage and exploiting my solar more effectively.

Yes it needs the installation certificate number, or certificate, which they check against the register. And they also ask for the "DNO letter" which informed the DNO, and the DNO response. They say these smooth the way for what is quite pioneering. I don't think I have a copy of the DNO letter as it was all done by my supplier as part of the deal, so would need to consult. I think I will be plumping for Octopus Outgoing Agile once I have reflected a bit more and asked some more questions.

I agree that it is about consciousness. The same could be said for green enthusiasm only ever being generally engaged when it saves Joe Bloggs noticeable amounts of money. My water solution to increase consciousness is universal metering. Which has a record of reducing usage by ~10-20% iirc.

Sensibly simple. I don't see the standing charge being that low, though - it is supposed to cover the costs of energy company busts etc. I would freeze the cap, and finance energy companies through either a loan/payback scheme to cover the medium term, or some combination including grants. It might be reasonable to hike corporation tax for the period for companies taking part, too.

Is that debt Octopus being responsible for paying what Bulb owes the Government, or money owed to Octopus by eg Bulb's customers, or something else?

Hmmm. My G2 Smart Meter is telling me I have used (ie imported) 53 kWh and exported 208 kWh since it was installed around 25 July. That usage is plus self-generated units, and the solar panels are currently very dirty. That very low electricity use could be a useful hedge against Agile Incoming going beserk, if I am required to take it up. I have both cooking and one of my showers on gas, and the other electric. Getting more interesting.

The FIT has three elements: Generation Payments. Deemed or Actual export payments. Money saved by self-consumption. The FAQ says clearly that you lose the export payments because that is what Octopus are paying for, and keep the Generation Payments. This is the kind of Gift Horse I want to consider - currently it looks like a one way bet at today's high prices. It is not clear whether you can opt back in to deemed export payments afterwards, but if Octopus are paying me around 5-8x the FIT export payments for a time that is quite a small downside. Especially with my lack of a divert device.

I'd welcome your comment son the FAQ linked. It says (which sounds like the condition does not apply): If it is as your describe for the previous arrangement, one needs to consider what can constitute an insurance policy.

Final Note. I see that the Electricity Meter from Octopus can tell me how much I exported, if it is the right kind. https://octopus.energy/blog/how-to-read-your-meter/#smets2meter

I'm just having a look at the Octopus Outgoing Agile smart tariff, following it being (I think) flagged up by @tommy12398. It pays for export at a rate based on the predicted wholesale rate for the next day. Here is the detailed FAQ: https://octopus.energy/blog/outgoing/ The registration process is slightly involved. According to the FAQ, for people on FITs you keep the FIT generation payments, and only the export element is replaced. That seems like a good option for someone like me who does not have a divert device or suitable load, especially at current wholesale prices. I am currently on 50% deemed export at a low price. The alternative to Agile Export is Fixed Export, which pays 7.5p per unit actually exported. Does anyone have experience or views? We used to describe "using the grid like a battery". This seems to be "using the grid like a divert device", and getting paid nearly the same as the money saved by diverting the export. I'm interested in how long the Agile Outgoing tariff has been around - does anyone know? Ferdinand

What a great thread 😁

If you have a retaining wall I am a fan of the pre-constructed systems where the blocks more or less slot together.