British Gas is set to begin free electricity on Saturdays in a bid to help keep customers happy rather than losing them to rival firms.
In short, it means that the average household would be able to reduce their current bill by one seventh, on the basis their daily usage is the same day by day including weekends. However, the likelihood of the move is that many customers will begin using Saturday as a day to do chores such as mow the lawn (with an electric lawnmower, obviously) and put the washing on. Of course, for those with plug-in hybrid vehicles or indeed all electric vehicles, the new tarrif may be of particular interest, particularly for those who travel less than 100 miles a week in their EV which could, in some circumstances mean that taking advantage of charging on Saturdays would result in free charging.
The question as to why British Gas isn’t simply reducing their rates by 1/7th is two fold; firstly the new move is likely to be less of a financial impact for the company than reducing the rates by 1/7th and secondly from a marketing aspect, offering free energy is an excellent way to draw attention.
British Gas have been hit hard by price rise announcements of 9.2% last November which led to the company losing a colossal number of customer, over 450,000. British Gas is likely to begin the new, “Free Electricity Saturday” tariff in the autumn.
