Have you had this month's bill from Octopus Energy and have you had an added estimate amount for one day for both gas and electric?

We have. They claim this is because of a change in the price of the fuels to them.  In our case, this amounted to an added £16.

Firstly they have no idea how much power we used for that one day as they did not have meter readings so it has to be an estimate. It is also strange that both fuels varied in price on that one day.

Already the addition of the standing charge brings them in £1750,000,000,000 annually. This is on top of the profit they make on supplying both fuels.

I have supplied this information to the government but I would welcome your thoughts.

I questioned this standing charge with Octopus and asked how many customers they had so I could calculate the figure. They told me 5.5 million. In an article in a newspaper the following day it was reported they had 6.5 million customers - quite a difference!

Our annual standing charge, and we are exceptionally careful of our usage is £260 X 6.5 million - which is a very large amount!

Is Octopus taking us all for a ride?

Graeme Hewitt 

The Vale,

Oakley

Send letters by email to newsdesk@basingstokegazette.co.uk or by post to Editor, Basingstoke Gazette, Absolutely Offices, Lutyens Cl, Lychpit, Basingstoke RG24 8AG.

All letters and e-mails must include full names and addresses (anonymous letters will not be published), although these details may be withheld from publication, on request.

Letters of 300 words or less will be given priority, although all are subject to editing for reasons of clarity, space, or legal requirements. We reserve the right to edit letters.