Electric Hook up

There has been a trial of metering electricity at one site, with reduced pitch fees. I think there was a report on this in the last magazine. The club have also been allowing people on other sites to opt out of hook up with a reduced fee. Unfortunately I think the latter is only over the winter.

I am sure someone will be on here soon to give further chapter and verse. It has been discussed at length on this forum but the chances of finding that threat are slim, due to the poor search facility on CT.

It is not lawful to charge for the resale of electricity other than by meter and within certain rules. I suspect it is the trial of metering you have heard about. 

See - https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/uk-holidays/useful-information/smart-metering-trial/

It has also been discussed several times on this forum.

I've not noticed any reference to further charges and would struggle to see how and where they would come from?

John

As others have explained the Club are experimenting with the use of metering for electricity usage. That is not an extra charge as there would be a corresponding reduction in site fees to compensate. I think the Club have said that they will review and comment around mid year as to whether the system is expanded to all sites so we will have to wait and see. The Club have made quite a few changes in the last two years and it is sometimes difficult to keep up. Although this forum generally has good discussions on these topics.

David

"That is not an extra charge as there would be a corresponding reduction in site fees to compensate."

I doubt the club would be lowering pitch prices by 'a corresponding amount' for campers on site in the current cold snap.

...and this is the issue....

the summer 'reduction' (based on an average low usage) is so small (£2) it doesn't make club sites attractive compared to other 'non electric' (THS) sites but at least the £2 allows for 5kwh a day so perfectly manageable (no heating etc) for those using electric 'normally'.

OTOH, anyone on site this week and possibly using between 20 and 40 kWh (I seriously doubt folk will be turning the van heating off in this weather even when out for the day) is going to think hard about incurring upto £18 a day (@45p per kWh) electric fees when the max reduction is set at £8....

this means a winter pitch in really cold weather could effectively be £10 more expensive for meter users than it would have been with inclusive leccy.

Just checking the prices of the club site we would be likely to visit in winter, the winter prices are already at around £30 for non new year prices, the thought of these 'off season' prices becoming upto £40 hurts.

with New Year prices now set at 'peak levels' and approaching £40, adding another £10 a night net cost for cold weather metered leccy means daily prices of £50....that's a mighty price for a New Year pitch.

so, where might this leave the club and winter tourers...?

well, I'm definitely in favour of the chance to use metered pitches but (obviously) only on my own terms...and that means I'll use THS sites (as we have plenty of solar and cheap gas) at £10-£15 in summer but, despite being a keen 'off gridder', I can't see us (or anyone else) accepting a £70 a week rise in winter pitch prices for the 'benefit' of metered usage, putting winter touring at CAMC at serious risk as sites move into ever heftier pricing.

im sure some of these issues will come out in the trial but the club has to be realistic about how much electricity members are currently paying for as part of their 'pitch price' and if it wants members believe in the metering approach it needs to be confident that customers understand they really are going to get 'a corresponding reduction in site fees to compensate'....

Excellent post Young Thomas,totally agree with your points,but I would like to add,when on Wyatts Covert you are paying business rate of around 42p per kw.This is a noticeable difference against normal domestic tariffs.

I imagine the site fee reductions applied by the Club, where metering is in place,  were a best guess probably based on the average energy usage across the network. The winter reductions seem, to me, quite realistic if I compare with my home usage. Although comparing with home usage is not as straightforward as it may seem as I don't use a washing machine or a dishwasher whilst away and I only have a modestly sized fridge in the motorhome! What we don't know is whether the Club can distinguish between bollard electricity usage and overall site usage? I think it is a shame that it is such a small experiment, especially if it dictates what happens to the whole network. The Club may decide, based on the evidence gathered that the winter reductions are too generous and the summer reductions not generous enough. We will have to wait and see.

David

The Club is obviously not entirely satisfied with the trial because they have not expanded it to Ashridge Farm as originally stated and they also mention in the January magazine that they intend to enhance the trial at Wyatts Covert from the summer of 2024 before any further decission is taken. Nothing is going to be decided even after a years trial,  in spite of them realising there is a 30 percent saving in consumption to be made. Across the network that would equate to a £1.8 million saving. Difficult to understand their thinking.

peedee

Having spent many Spanish winters using metered electric I can say with decent accuracy that anyone running a largish fridge freezer will require around 4 kWh per day, add in some battery charging and tv etc and 5-6 kWh is a fair estimate for a uk summer day. With the club charging 45p per kWh then £2-3 per day is about right....

however, the winter usage can be far more variable...the f/f usage might be a tad less than summer, but lights will be used far more, along with tv...but all this is at the low end...the big variable is whether the weather is mild or severe.

having the heating on for a couple of hours in the evening to take the chill off on a mild winters day is a long way from leaving it on 24x7.

...and this is the difficult part to estimate the 'reduction'.

So, rather than take a top down approach (how much shall we take off for electric, hard to get right) perhaps the club should be looking at a bottom up approach to actually rework all the costs to give an accurate 'non electric' base pitch price. Then there will be a truly accurate equation for customers based on what they use.

PD, maybe I’m missing something but can you explain where the 30% saving in consumption figure comes from, please?