Martin Lewis tells customers if they’re not happy ‘I’m afraid the only option is to ditch and switch’
Energy giant Octopus increased prices and gave customers less than two weeks’ notice(Image: Getty)
Some Octopus Energy customers will be charged more for their electricity from Friday this week and have complained they were only told two weeks ago. Households on the Intelligent Octopus Go and Octopus Go smart energy tariffs will pay more from 1 May. The tariffs offer cheap overnight electricity to allow customers with electric vehicles to charge them for less.
MoneySavingExpert reported that customers were told about the changes, which include standing charges going up by an average of 52p a month, on 20 April.
Octopus Energy told them that the increase in the off-peak unit rate was “due to ongoing volatility”, referring to the chaos caused by the Iran conflict.
The company’s chief executive, Greg Jackson, said on X: “Whilst rises are painful and we work very hard to avoid them (you can look back and see very few over the years on these tariffs) – these tariffs are still very cheap – typical users on this tariff will have a blended rate of around 18.3p/kWh – around 20% below the price cap, and the more they charge their car the bigger the saving.”
Customers took to X to complain. One said: “@OctopusEnergy so “due to global volatility” my prices are going up which I understand……what I don’t is why does my daily standing charge also increase #moneymakingscheme”. Sarah said: “I’ve been following the news quite closely since the start of this war in Iran and it’s a war where strangling energy supplies is the key.
“I’ve stopped watching now as it was making me worry too much BUT for Octopus to increase the cost from 1st May it’s an indication to fix 100%! The 1st July and the one on bang on about the 1st October are the worries. BUT you can fix and it’s only slightly more than the fixed i originally went for 1st October last year. Yes, the government reduction where they removed some of the costs has been eaten up, but thank goodness they did that.”
Andrew said: “So government supposed to reduce energy rates by £150… @OctopusEnergy reduce their electric rate in April and then put it back up from 1st May so no saving at all… absolute con and now they blame Iran crisis for the increase.”
Ken asked: “@MartinSLewis octopus putting up their Octopus Go rates from 1st May even though they brought them down just weeks ago for the drop in the price cap? Doesn’t sound right.” Martin replied: “Doesn’t sound great, but just to be technical. Octopus Go is not a price-capped tariff, so it didn’t move due to a drop in Price Cap. It dropped due to the removal of some govt policy costs from energy bills (which is the same reason the cap moved but still they’re separate).
“As its not priced capped and it is a variable tariff it is allowed to move the price as long as adequate notice is given. I’m afraid the only option is to ditch and switch elsewhere :(“
READ MORE: Octopus Go Martin Lewis new price rise update as he says ‘doesn’t sound great’READ MORE: Martin Lewis urges Octopus, E.ON, OVO and EDF customers to act now in Iran war update
Octopus replied: “It’s not a con – the global volatility in gas markets directly impacts the UK electricity market, which dictates prices for all suppliers regardless of the tariff. Despite market challenges, from 1st May, Intelligent Octopus Go will be Britain’s cheapest standalone EV charging rate. Drop us a DM if you’d like to chat through your options.
“To help keep this unit rate increase as low as possible, we’ve moved more of Ofgem’s grid costs to standing charges. We already think standing charges are too high and need to come down, but because a typical Octopus Go customer uses more than twice the electricity of a typical home, shifting these costs off the unit rate does save you money overall.”
Octopus Energy chief executive Greg Jackson said: “You don’t need to buy a charger from us. The points about timing are well taken. In terms of “reviewed every three months” – although the price was changed less than three months ago – that was simply passing through the Government cut, in full. We haven’t changed the price ourselves for four months (Octopus Go) and longer (for Intelligent Octopus Go) – and in terms of notice period, Ofgem removed the 30 days (we assume because it sometimes caused people to leave good value tariffs).
“We aim for about two weeks – slightly less this time, as we didn’t want to email over the weekend when there’d be less support available. And perspective is important – an EV on these tariffs is about five to eight times cheaper per mile than a petrol car, despite the fact the UK has such high electricity prices.”
A spokesperson for Octopus Energy added: “We’re delighted that hundreds of thousands of Intelligent Octopus Go customers remain on Britain’s cheapest standalone EV tariff, with many Octopus Go customers also charging up at 20% below the price cap.
“Before the war in the Middle East, customers on these tariffs saved over £860 a year on charging compared to filling a car with petrol; now it’s over £1,000 cheaper – one of the many tariffs that Octopus is delighted to be providing to help drive down the cost of energy, even in the current volatile period.”
