EDF has left customers on its Economy 7 tariff wondering how they will be able to heat their homes this winter after the energy supplier almost doubled its off-peak night-time rate.
On 1 January, most home energy users in Great Britain saw their bills rise by an average of 5% after the regulator Ofgem raised the price cap.
However, at the same time, EDF pushed through a 91% increase in its E7 night-time rate.
Households that rely on Economy 7 have always paid a much cheaper rate to recharge their storage or water heaters through the night and a more expensive daytime rate for electricity.
Users tend to live in purpose-built flats or older-style social housing without a gas connection – and are often on lower incomes. They were traditionally rewarded for using off-peak electricity produced when demand was low.
Tim Burton, who lives in rural Norfolk, told the Guardian that EDF had almost doubled the price he and others in the eastern region pay for their night-time electricity from 8.5p to 16.6p a kilowatt hour (kWh). It is a similar story across the country.
Households on standard variable tariffs with EDF are typically charged about 30p/kWh at any time of day and night if they pay by direct debit.
EDF has cut the E7 day rate to an average of 35.8p/kWh, but customers on the tariff say the price rise at night will more than offset any savings from that reduction.
“Each year, 75% of our electricity is used for heating our home. So our recent price rise is not the routinely reported 5% but a massive hike of 38%,” Burton said.
“We feel as minority energy users living in a rural area, our plight is being overlooked, and our situation is being exploited by energy companies. To avoid an unsustainable annual energy bill, we should invest in a heat pump. But this would require us to install a costly radiator system from scratch; and since my wife and myself are both 70 we would be highly unlikely to recoup this cost.”
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