Entering into an electricity agreement with a specific supplier requires you to go over all the proposed terms and decide whether those are favorable for you or not. Of course, if you’re not quite knowledgeable on all of this; you may just ignore the necessity of going through the terms; and decide to sign the agreement without doing much research, hoping you’ll be lucky enough to get the best option. Or, you may think that the differences are insignificant; and that you’d pay the same regardless of the agreement you actually decide to sign. I get where the assumption may be coming from, but it’s definitely not correct.
Introduction:
Is assuming things really the best path towards getting the best deal and scoring the best agreement for you? Well, if you think about it for a moment, you’ll realize that assuming is never the answer; regardless of what you’re buying, and electricity is no different in that regard. By now, you should understand that different factors impact the power price, including the actual supplier; and that different ones could offer you different deals, some of which may work for you perfectly; and some of which may be a bit more expensive than you expected.
What good would it do you not to make assumptions, though, and not to rush into things; when you don’t have any idea whatsoever as to how the prices work and what you should choose? Not having a clue about the different factors and price types will probably not lead to getting the best deals. For example, if you’ve heard about the concept strøm spotpris, i.e. spot prices for electricity; but you don’t know much about it and you don’t really understand what it is; who could guarantee you that it is the best option for you? Sure, someone could offer you the guarantee, but you won’t know if it’s based on facts; or simply on the desire to convince you to go for this solution.
So, what should you do instead? The answer should be quite simple. You need to get a better understanding of the strøm spotpris concept; as well as figure out if this is a billig solution, because cheaper is always better when it comes to paying for electricity. Furthermore, you have to understand all the advantages and the disadvantages of the spotrpis option; and get familiar with the alternative, so as to finally decide if this is the best possible solution for you or not; and if you should go for such an agreement or not.
What Is Strøm Spotpris?
If you’re ready to learn, and I’m sure you are, we’ll start with the very basics. What exactly is the spotpris? As you’ll quickly understand if you visit bestestrøm.no/spotpris/, the spot price is basically equal to the market price, meaning you’ll pay the same price for kWh as the supplier pay when actually buying electricity. Doesn’t that sound like a dream come true? You pay the exact same price, which makes it sound as if the supplier isn’t earning a thing on you.
Well, be careful there. The suppliers still need to earn their share, and they do so through certain surcharges. They usually set a fixed monthly fee for the surcharges, and that fee will vary from supplier to supplier. Apart from the fixed fee, this could also be charged as a fee for kWh and it can; once again, be different from one supplier to another. Thus, if you’re looking to save, and you most definitely are, choosing the supplier that offers the lowest surcharge is what you should aim for when entering into one of these agreements.
electricity exchange :
Another thing to understand about the spot price is that the price of your electricity will change day after day if you go for this solution. The Nord Pole, which is the electricity exchange where power trading happens, will set a new price every single day; based on the information provided by the suppliers on the actual consumption needs for that day. Thus, if those needs are higher, which automatically means the demand is higher; the spotpris will be higher as well, and vice versa.
The overall bill you’ll get at the end of each month will, thus, depend on the spotpris; set based on the overall demand for electricity, and your own consumption habits. If you go for this solution, you’ll realize that the bills will be much higher in the winter; due to high demand and high consumption, while rather lower in the summer, when nobody uses that much electricity; meaning that not only your consumption habits are different, but also that the demand is lower. Basically, if you’re able to tolerate the fluctuations, then this could be the right solution for you.
Can You Get a Cheap Spotpris?
Understanding generally how this works is one thing, but you want to know if it is specifically the right solution for you. Meaning, you want to know if the spotpris solution is billig or not; i.e. if it is the cheaper option than the alternative (and we’ll talk about the alternative later on). Well, it is estimated that the spotrpis agreement is the cheapest solution in the long run for most people; but nobody can guarantee what the future holds, meaning it may not stay that way forever.
Plus, there’s one more factor that will impact the cheapness of the spotpris. Your region. Norway is, as you may know, divided into 5 electricity regions; and the spot price will differ in all of those; with the northern regions being offered the cheapest solutions, and the southern regions being offered slightly more expensive options. Nevertheless, it is expected that the price difference between the north and the south will be leveled and become pretty much insignificant overtime. Still, for the time being, where you’re located plays a huge role in whether your spotpris will be billig or not.
What Are the Advantages?
As you may have guessed it all on your own, the main advantage of the spot price lies in the fact that you won’t pay more for electricity than what the suppliers are paying at the Nord Pole. If the price is generally low, you can expect your bill to be low as well. Remember, though, that there are those surcharges to take into account as well.
What Are the Disadvantages?
The very thing that is the advantage could also be counted as a disadvantage here, and let me explain why. You see, since you’ll be paying the exact same price as set on the Nord Pole, you have to be prepared for great fluctuations. Thus, your bill could be very high at times, especially in the winter, when the demand increases and the prices rise. All in all, your electricity bill could be a tad unpredictable with this option, given that it all depends on the daily spotpris that the Nord Pole will set.
What’s the Alternative?
The alternative to paying a spotpris is, of course, paying a fixed price. Signing a fixed price agreement means you’ll be paying the exact same amount per kWh throughout the year, regardless of the fluctuations on the actual Nord Pole. This gives you more predictability and allows you to avoid those huge spikes that are bound to happen during the winter. Even so, the electricity price on a fixed agreement tends to be much higher than the one on the spotpris agreement, meaning that this is the more expensive option in the long run. And, given that you won’t get to benefit from the price reductions that are bound to happen at one point or another on the market, you can definitely expect the overall yearly amount you’ll pay to be higher for a fixed price agreement.
Should You Go for the Spotpris?
Having understood how the spotpris works and what the alternative is, you now have to decide which type of an agreement to go for. Generally, if you’re able to tolerate the fluctuations, you should go for the spot price option, as it will wind up being more favorable in the long run, since you can benefit from those fluctuations when the Nord Pole sets lower electricity prices, and it will certainly do that in specific periods during the year. On the other hand, if you’re not sure you can handle the fluctuations, then a fixed, predictable price may be better for you.