NY pretended :
Does "pay monthly by direct debit" imply the spawn-of-the-devil budgeted
payments where you don't pay the bill for what you have *actually* used, but
instead pay what the utility company anticipates you will use, based on
previous usage and fiddle-factors for what time of year it is?

A variable DD is what I have used for many years and it works
absolutely great. I have always kept a close eye on my consumption of
both E & G, I record it in a spreadsheet once per week out of curiosity
- so I can fairly accurately predict what my annual consumption will
be. I then simply provide that figure when looking for a new tariff
contract, to get the cheapest/best quote.

The DD amount is set to a monthly figure which will remain roughly the
same for the following 12 months, but if I get ahead or behind, they
can tweak it slightly to match to correct the error.

Each month, they email a bill to me, which shows my consumption and
whether I owe them, or they owe me. Following the past few months of it
being exceptionally cold, I owe them the grand sum of £6.98 on my
combined utility bill.

I have been with the same supplier now for 17 months, though on two
different tariffs. They tweaked my DD a couple of months ago, for the
first time, to add an extra £3 pm to my DD, because I was slipping
slightly behind. Paying more or less the same each and every month,
makes it easy to budget, though I have absolutely no need to budget.

I don't need to remember to pay the bill. It makes it easier for the
energy company to budget too and it reduces their costs - which is
reflected in keeper energy for their customers. Getting paid by you, as
you consume, means the energy company doesn't have to borrow to pay
their bills, another saving which they pass on to the customer in lower
bills - What's not to like in having lower bills?