Economy 7 users hit as night-time energy rates soar

Households signed up to an Economy 7 energy tariff are finding it harder to make a saving on their bills as night-time rates soar. 

Economy 7 tariffs offer cheaper electricity, typically between midnight and 7am, but charge a more expensive rate during the day. 

They are designed to offer good value to households which use more electricity at night – for example by fuelling a storage heater to give out heat the next day. 

All the big suppliers – British Gas, E.on, Npower, Scottish Power and Ovo – offer Economy 7 tariffs. 

But research by comparison website The Energy Shop has found that over the past two years, tariffs charged for this night usage have soared by up to 47 per cent – about double the price hike of comparable standard tariff rates (26 per cent). 

Rory Stoves, of comparison website Energyhelpline, says: ‘Up to a third of a household’s consumption of electricity might have to be when people are asleep for Economy 7 to pay its way. 

‘You may need to be nocturnal for it to represent good value.’ 

Crunching the numbers for the most popular suppliers, Energyhelpline calculates that households with a standard rate deal with supplier EDF Energy might expect to pay an average of £677 a year for their electricity. 

But signed up to its Economy 7 deal, they would pay £777 a year if only using electricity in the day. 

Customers on this tariff would have to use 30 per cent of their electricity at night to make a saving. 

Joe Malinowski, founder of The Energy Shop, says: ‘One of the unintended consequences of the recent energy cap is that suppliers are struggling to price tariffs below it – so they are pushing rates charged for services such as Economy 7 sky high.’ 

In recent days, five energy suppliers have gone bust as a result of soaring wholesale prices for gas and electricity. It brings the total number that have folded to 20 since August, affecting more than two million customers.