N-Power Overpricing

In late November 2008 I used uSwitch to see if I could get my energy supplied any more cheaply. My major concern was the vast changes that Scottish Power were making quarter to quarter based on my fuel bills despite what they called graduated charging to smooth out the curve and the pain. As I result I shifted to N-Power.

Now with the general election and other stuff since then the ability of me to be when the meter reader called round was non-existent. Also the little reminder card to ask me to send off my own readings got neglected amongst the plethora of junk mail. Thus the last two actual meter readings on my house were in December and March.

Anyone who recalls the weather we had during that period, ie the temperature barely rising above zero will understand that quarters bill to have been high. So it was that when I moved out I sent off the final readings, I got the final settlement when I was away over the weekend. My bill is in credit to the sum of £622.39. This actually equates to over three months of the current rate they were charging me at. This is from a provider I was only with from December 2008. Therefore I had been overcharged by some quite considerable margin for 21 months I was with them.

Many power companies are now offering you the opportunity to send in your own reading. In future I will be checking my own reading more regularly and comparing it to the bills I'm being sent or using the online reporting of my usage system more regularly.

It also brings to my mind a project that one of my former flatmates was working on down in London. It was to make gas meters readable without having to visit the site. This was in the early days of the Internet, but it does make me wonder why we still insist on analogue metering that has to be monitored on site, leading to estimates of usage, which invariably are proven to be off in either direction at some point in the future.