Tim Streater brought next idea :
Not really pointless. Agreed that for the most part they are just billing
organisations. The volts are actually supplied by the likes of UK Power
Networks, not by such as npower etc.

They are the retailers, between us and the wholesalers. They seek out
the best deal they can from the wholesalers, it is then up to us to get
the best deal we can from those retailers. I have no complaints, it
works very well indeed for me. My costs have never been so cheap,
relatively.


But the billing side is a largish chunk of the cost. Why shouldn't there be a
mechanism to reduce the cost of that part? It's no different to no longer
queuing up in a shop to wait your turn for some klod to take a tin of cocoa
off the shelf behind him and hand it to you. You may as well do that yourself
while you wait. And so the self-service idea takes off: cheaper for you,
quicker, and thus better for the environment.

And we no longer sit in the car while some geezer fills up our tank. What did
your last servant die of anyway?

Supply of volts and stinking gas is no different: cost reduced by automated
payments. It's also why they're after us to put smart meters in.

Exactly right - work with them, to minimise their costs and due to the
mass of energy supply competition, it brings the overall cost down for
you as a customer.