What to do when electricity rates are high
The advice you will read everywhere is to "lock in when rates are low". That is only useful if you can tell which is which, and you cannot — so here is what you can actually decide.
Nobody knows where rates are going
Wholesale electricity prices depend on fuel costs, weather, generation availability and demand, and the people whose full-time job is forecasting them are wrong often enough that they hedge. A comparison site telling you to wait, or to buy now, is not sharing information — it is guessing on your behalf with none of your money at stake.
This site will not do that. What it will do is show you what a contract actually costs over its term, so the decision you make is about a real number rather than a prediction.
What you can control
The term. A long contract in an expensive market locks in an expensive price; a short one keeps the decision open but usually costs a little more per month. Neither is right in general, and which one you regret depends on something unknowable.
The structure. A plan with a minimum-usage charge or a bill credit can look cheap and behave expensively, and that has nothing to do with where the market is. Removing those from consideration is a decision you can make with certainty, which is why this marketplace makes it for you.
The default. Whatever you do, do not let a contract lapse into a month-to-month rate while you wait for a better moment. That is reliably the most expensive option on the table.
A reasonable approach
Compare the projected annual cost of the plans you can actually buy today, pick the term you are comfortable committing to, and put the expiry date in your calendar. That is the whole method, and it works in an expensive market and a cheap one.
If prices fall substantially during your contract, you can calculate whether switching is worth the early termination fee — the fee is on every plan page here for that reason. Frequently it is not, and knowing that is worth more than watching the market.
The one thing you can decide without a forecast
Nobody can tell you where prices are going. How long you commit for is still yours to choose.
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