Theo wrote:

However there is another way. Buy a futures contract for one year's worth
of electricity. That way you've fixed the rate for your consumption and
aren't subject to peak market pricing, but can time the market to pick the
best forward price. Due to the way the market is regulated the downside of
a bad contract is limited - you can always exit for a £30 fee.

There is a supplier who does this - Symbio Energy - although they don't
describe it like this.

There's another supplier, utiltypoint, they also don't describe it
exactly like that, the particular tariff charges you more for the first
few months (which they describe as covering the cost of buying energy
futures, then a lower price the rest of the contract.

To my mind, it makes them sound quite small and hand-to-mouth as a
supplier, as I'm sure all the energy Co's do that anyway?

Actually scratch that, just tried to find details of that tariff on
their website, and it seems like it's no longer available, but the
wording still exists ...


"How we calculate your starter and saver payment amounts

We start by calculating your forecasted annual energy costs then divide
this by 12: this provides your average monthly payment amount, we then
adjust it for the time of year. We take a little more during the
beginning of your fixed period (Starter Payments) which allows us to
forward buy your energy providing you with a market leading tariff and
ultimately this means we can charge you less during the second half of
the fixed period (Saver Payments), saving you money when it matters.

Your Starter Payments are taken for the first 6 months and your Saver
Payments are taken for the last 6 months."