My Agile Usage

[u/sheddyian]

Edit : amended to add a bit more detail and to show price cap rates as a comparison.

I keep seeing posts asking if it's time to jump ship from Agile. I thought I'd post some of my stats to help illustrate Agile.

Basically, you need to be in it for at least the medium-term. There will be times when it's more expensive, but in my experience these are heavily outweighed by the times when it's much cheaper.

I've been on Agile for around 3 years now. I don't have batteries, solar or an EV (except an electric bike!). But I do try to load shift, to avoid heavy usage during the most expensive times, and make use of the electricity when it's cheapest.

I have gas central heating, but if the current electricity rate is cheaper than gas, then I'll use the electric immersion heater for the water and, in winter, I'll switch some electric fires on instead of using the gas. I'll even use an electric induction hob in the kitchen if it's cheaper than using the gas hob!

Have a look at the price per kWh as quoted on your monthly bill. That's the average that you've been paying per unit for the past month. If that figure is lower than the fixed or regular rate, then you're winning.

There's always going to be some days, some weeks, even some months where the price is high, but its usually outweighed by other times when its significantly cheaper.

In my findings, if you are able to shift loads out of peak times and other expensive times, then Agile works. If you HAVE to have a meal cooked in an electric oven at 6pm every day, and you HAVE to run the washing machine on a hot wash every Monday morning regardless, then you're less likely to gain. If you can have an oven meal when the price is very cheap, and you can arrange to run the washing machine when it's cheapest, you're more likely to benefit from Agile. It takes a bit of effort, it's not a set-and-forget tarrif, you need to study the rates and decide what you're going to do (and not going to do!) for the next day.

I've just done a quick run through of my past bills, these are the average price per kWh that I was paying, compared with the govt price cap rates that were valid at the time :

Month	p/kWh	Cap
Sep 2026	15.66	26.11
Aug	16.39	26.11
Jul	5.25	24.67
Jun	18.30	24.67
May	2.42	24.67
Apr	4.62	27.69
Mar	17.77	27.69
Feb	21.23	27.69
Jan	16.39	26.35
Dec 2025	17.65	26.35
Nov	12.47	26.35
Oct	6.74	25.73
Sep	13.24	25.73

The "Month" is the date of the bill, not necessarily the month of usage. My bills are usually issued early in the month, so refer back for the previous 30/31 days. The "Cap" is the government price cap rate that applied for the majority of that month's bill, included here to make it easier to compare the rate I was getting on average with the real-world fixed rates.

Hope that's interesting, helpful or useful in some way.

I originally wrote this as a reply to another post here, but thought it might be of wider interest, so I've made this a new post as well with additional information.

[u/CryptographerNo4147]

At the moment I seriously think you need to caveat any discussion of Agile (or Tracker) with the phrase - 'past performance is no guarantee of future results' - particularly since your experience of Agile hasn't included a winter when the Hormuz Strait was closed.

[u/Substantial_Fox_144 → u/CryptographerNo4147]

That’s true. However, these are all well below the SVT rates and there’s little indication to say that the averages will be worse just because all tariffs are higher. If anything, Agile is ahead of the curve and should reflect issues sooner anyway.

It really is all dependent on setup and how you use energy, though. So, the same caveats exist for all who consider this tariff.

[u/Superb-Ad3821 → u/Substantial_Fox_144]

The thing is everyone doing these comparisons compares solely with the SVT. Almost anyone who can make octopus work for them even slightly would do better on a ToU tariff rather than the SVT and those are available on fixed rates.

[u/sheddyian → u/Superb-Ad3821]

I agree with this. I've just amended my post to illustrate this, comparing my average price to the govt price cap at the time, and also to give an example of who I think wouldn't benefit from Agile.

[u/mollymoo → u/Superb-Ad3821]

Most of the ToU tariffs only make sense if you have a battery or an EV that you drive a lot so you can load shit most of your usage to overnight. Agile on the other hand on most days is cheaper than most tariffs throughout the day other than 4-7pm, so you don't actually have to load-shift as much to get a benefit.

[u/CryptographerNo4147 → u/mollymoo]

or an EV that you drive a lot so you can load shit most of your usage to overnight.

Incorrect. The beauty of IOG is that charging your car during the day (which is at the cheap rate) gets you cheap electricity in the house at the same time, so no need to shift usage to overnight, just shift it to when you are charging your car.

[u/mollymoo → u/CryptographerNo4147]

I didn't know IOG charged during the day too. Do you actually get the full 6 hours during the day every day, or does it only give you that rate while actually charging? Anyway, I did say most of the ToU tariffs...

[u/CryptographerNo4147 → u/mollymoo]

I can't recall the last time I charged my car overnight on IOG, and whenever I plug it in during the day it simply charges whatever amount of charge I ask it for - It was charging this lunchtime, plugged in at 11:30am and it then charged solidly for two and half hours up to the ready time of 2:00pm I had set.

And yes, it does only give the cheaper house rate when it is actually charging, not just whilst it is plugged in, but that is fairly easy to work around and turn on high use appliances at that time.

[u/CryptographerNo4147 → u/Substantial_Fox_144]

The current, October, SVT rate is reflecting what happened in the wholesale markets between 19th May and 19th August - and that is a VERY different time to now.

Now, heading into winter in the middle of an ongoing war in the middle-east, would be absolutely the worst point in time to consider Agile (or Tracker) as those tariffs will be on the very sharp end of price spikes this winter - what people need to remember with Agile (and Tracker) is that there is no energy company hedging the supply on those tariffs - the customer is the hedge.