No standing charge energy: Octopus, EDF and the 2026 pilot

Affiliate disclosure: this post contains an Octopus Energy referral link. If you use it, both of us get £50 bill credit: the same £50 any Octopus referral earns, just attributed to me. It doesn't change the price you pay or the tariff you can pick. Referral Plug also earns from EDF and E.ON Next referrals, and not from British Gas. The pilot and price cap figures below were read on 22 October 2026, from Ofgem or from each supplier's own page or public tariff API.

Octopus has no tariff without a standing charge that a home can switch to. The standing charge is the fixed daily fee you pay before using any energy, and on the October to December 2026 price cap it averages 54.83p a day for electricity and 29.68p for gas on Direct Debit: £308.46 a year for a dual-fuel home before a single unit.

What exists instead is Ofgem's one-year pilot of lower standing charges (opens in new tab) from June 2026, at EDF, E.ON Next, Octopus and British Gas. Ofgem says a dual-fuel home on a pilot tariff pays about £150 a year less in standing charges than on the cap, expects suppliers to put unit rates up in return, and caps the number of places. Its own warning is that the tariffs "may not mean that the energy bills of those who take part will be cheaper than other tariffs currently available". Outside the pilot, Ofgem says "some specialist suppliers" offer low or no standing charge tariffs to prepayment customers.

Where you can get a lower standing charge

EDF announced its trial (opens in new tab) on 6 July 2026, with no exit fees, for new customers signing up to FreePhase "if eligible" and for existing FreePhase customers who ask. FreePhase needs a smart meter sending half-hourly readings and payment by Direct Debit. The announcement is the trial's only page: EDF's FreePhase page (opens in new tab) doesn't mention it, so look for the opt-in when you get a FreePhase quote.

Octopus's Low Standing Charge Tariff Trial (opens in new tab) "is now full and can no longer be joined", after Octopus offered it to 33,000 homes. Prepayment meters didn't qualify. Its one-year term and £50 exit fee are MSE's figures; Octopus's page gives neither.

E.ON Next's Next Lower Daily Fixed is for a randomised selection of existing customers (opens in new tab) paying by Direct Debit, which MSE puts at 25,000. Ofgem let E.ON keep it from new customers (opens in new tab) for sign-ups until 31 May 2027. E.ON reprices it alongside its regular 24-month fix: the version in the table, v79, has been listed in E.ON's tariff API since 20 October 2026, with the same gaps in all 14 regions.

British Gas has published nothing on its pilot. Ofgem let it offer its "Fixed Lighter" pilot tariffs to existing customers only (opens in new tab), for sign-ups from 11 August 2026 to 10 August 2027, because it can check the usage only of homes it already supplies. British Gas's own standing charge guide (opens in new tab) still says the trial "is set to start later this year".

Who saves on a fixed pilot

A lower standing charge paid for with a higher unit rate saves money below one level of usage and costs money above it:

365 × the daily standing-charge cut ÷ the extra per kWh = the yearly usage below which the pilot is cheaper.

E.ON's is the only fixed pilot with published rates. Its electricity line is 365 × 16.97p ÷ 3.43p = 1,806 kWh a year, and its gas line works out at 7,566 kWh, both against E.ON's own 24-month fix; E.ON rounds them to 1,800 and 7,500. Octopus never published its pilot's rates, but gives the same rule of thumb against its own Fixed tariff: above 1,800 kWh of electricity or 7,500 kWh of gas a year, "you'll end up paying more".

Below the line, the saving stops at the floor. Octopus turned away homes using under 666 kWh of electricity or 2,836 kWh of gas a year, and E.ON requires 700 kWh and 2,900 kWh. On E.ON's rates, against its own fix:

So £90.35 a year is the most a dual-fuel home can save on E.ON's pilot, and Ofgem's typical home pays more. Both suppliers' lines are drawn against their own fix, not against the cheapest tariff on the market.

EDF's version: a discount on a time-of-use tariff

EDF's pilot raises no unit rate. It takes £6.25 a month per fuel, £75 a year, off the standing charge of FreePhase, its time-of-use electricity tariff, and leaves FreePhase's rates where they are. Against FreePhase there is no break-even: the trial is £75 a year cheaper at any usage. The question is whether FreePhase beats the single-rate tariff you would otherwise be on, and that turns on when you use electricity rather than how much.

FreePhase charges three rates a day: red from 4pm to 7pm, amber from 6am to 4pm and 7pm to 11pm, and green from 11pm to 6am. FreePhase Dynamic resets them daily from wholesale prices; FreePhase Static fixes them, for 24 months on the version EDF lists from 22 October 2026. Its rates in Southern England, where I live, against the cap there:

Only the red hours cost more than the cap, by 19.57p a kWh. The standing charge is £25.03 a year lower and the trial adds £75, so £100.03 covers 511 kWh of red-hour use a year whatever you use at other times, and every cheaper amber or green unit stretches it further. The pattern holds in all 14 regions: amber and green under the cap's unit rate, red 18.91p to 20.03p over it, a standing charge about £25 a year lower, and room for 499 to 529 kWh of red-hour use with the trial. Without the trial that room is 125 to 132 kWh, and EDF's own note on FreePhase is that customers who don't change when they use electricity "may not see any savings".

My numbers: 2,095 kWh in Southern England

I use 2,095 kWh of electricity a year in Region H (Southern). Since July 2026 my electricity has been on EDF's Simply Tracker, which charges the cap's unit rate and takes 6.85p a day off its standing charge; my gas is still on an Octopus fix.

E.ON's pilot would cost me £9.92 a year more than E.ON's own fix: 2,095 kWh at 3.43p is £71.86 of extra units, against £61.94 off the standing charge. I couldn't join it anyway, since it's for existing E.ON customers. At 2,095 kWh, Octopus's own rule of thumb puts my electricity on the losing side of its trial too, and that one is full.

EDF's is the one I could take, and as a Flextras member I'd pay no exit fee to move to FreePhase. FreePhase Static's standing charge sits the same 6.85p a day under the cap as my tracker's, so against my own tariff only the trial's £75 is new, and at the 19.57p red-hour premium it covers 383 kWh of use between 4pm and 7pm: 18% of my year. A day used perfectly evenly would put 12.5% there, three hours in 24.

My one standing-charge trade so far shows why the daily fee is only half the sum. On the July to September 2026 rates, Simply Tracker's discount put me £25.04 a year below the cap, and the tracker still cost me £70.13 a year more than the Octopus 12-month Fixed it replaced, because the unit rate went up more than the standing charge came down. The full arithmetic is on my EDF page.

The floors keep second homes out

Ofgem let pilot suppliers set a minimum usage "at a level to avoid second homeowners benefiting at the expense of others", and Octopus says its 666 kWh floor excludes "abnormally low consumption (for example second-home owners)". The lower a meter's usage, the more of its bill the standing charge is, so a second home, a holiday let or a property between tenants is where a lower one would save most, and below 666 kWh of electricity a year neither Octopus's pilot nor E.ON's will take it. EDF publishes no floor, but its trial comes only with FreePhase and the smart meter that needs. The options for void periods are in Octopus Energy for landlords.

Why the standing charge is so high

The standing charge recovers costs that don't change with how much you use: the networks that carry energy to your meter, government schemes, and metering, billing and customer service. For electricity it more than doubled between October 2021 and October 2023, from about 22p to about 51p a day on Direct Debit, and Ofgem gives two reasons (opens in new tab). Its Targeted Charging Review, decided in 2019, moved some network charges off the unit rate and onto a fixed daily charge in 2022 and 2023, because charging per unit "made it too easy for some users to avoid network costs". And the cost of the suppliers that failed in 2021 and 2022 is recovered through network charges too. Gas recovers both through its unit rate, which is why its standing charge stayed broadly flat in real terms. Octopus says it "strongly opposed" the review.

One government scheme has moved the other way. From April 2026 (opens in new tab), the cost of the Warm Home Discount came off the standing charge and onto the unit rate.

Where to switch

EDF's is the pilot a switcher can join, through a FreePhase quote, and my EDF page has its refer-a-friend link: £50 in bill credit for each of us. EDF's referral terms (opens in new tab) name no tariff, and the one thing they rule out combining the reward with is "any other prospective customer promotional offer"; the trial is open to existing customers too.

Above the break-even, a lower unit rate saves more than a lower standing charge, because it applies to every kWh you use. Octopus's £50 referral credit applies to all its domestic tariffs, Flexible, Fixed and smart, through Ad my Octopus £50 referral link (opens in new tab), and the scheme is explained on the Octopus Energy referral page. Octopus's tariffs are compared in our tariff guide, my six years with it are in my Octopus Energy review, and the suppliers that undercut it are in who is cheaper than Octopus Energy.

Octopus no standing charge FAQs

Which energy suppliers have a lower standing charge tariff?

Four, in Ofgem's one-year pilot from June 2026, and only EDF's takes customers switching in. EDF takes £6.25 a month per fuel off the standing charge of its FreePhase time-of-use tariff, for new FreePhase customers and existing ones who ask. Octopus's trial, which takes about £150 a year off a dual-fuel home's standing charges, is full after Octopus offered it to 33,000 homes. E.ON Next's Next Lower Daily Fixed, a 24-month fix, is for existing customers picked at random, and Ofgem let British Gas offer its "Fixed Lighter" pilot tariffs to existing customers only.

Why does Octopus charge a standing charge?

Every supplier pays costs that don't change with how much you use: the networks that carry energy to your meter, government schemes, and metering and billing. Octopus recovers them through a daily charge; on the October to December 2026 price cap, the electricity one averages 54.83p a day. The electricity standing charge more than doubled between October 2021 and October 2023, from about 22p to about 51p a day, because Ofgem's Targeted Charging Review moved some network charges onto a fixed daily basis in 2022 and 2023, and the cost of the supplier failures of 2021 and 2022 was recovered the same way. Octopus says it opposed the review.

Can I cancel my Octopus standing charge?

No. Octopus has no tariff without a standing charge that a home can switch to, its trial of a lower one is full, and you can't remove the standing charge from the tariff you're on. If a property is genuinely disconnected and won't need power again, you can ask for the meter to be removed, which ends the standing charge and the supply with it.

Where these numbers came from

All read on 22 October 2026.

• Ofgem's pilot: Lower standing charge tariffs: next steps (opens in new tab), last updated 22 June 2026, and its decisions of 26 June (opens in new tab) and 18 August 2026 (opens in new tab) letting E.ON Next and British Gas limit their pilot tariffs to existing customers
• The cap: Ofgem's unit rates and standing charges (opens in new tab) for 1 October to 31 December 2026, Direct Debit, single-rate meter, with no VAT on electricity and 5% on gas. The typical homes are Ofgem's typical consumption values (opens in new tab) in force since July 2026
• The standing charge's history: Ofgem's Standing Charges: Call for Input (opens in new tab) (November 2023) and its April 2026 price cap announcement (opens in new tab)
• EDF: its 6 July 2026 announcement (opens in new tab), the FreePhase page (opens in new tab), FreePhase Static's regional Direct Debit rates and exit fee in EDF's public tariff API (opens in new tab), and its refer-a-friend terms (opens in new tab)
• Octopus: The Low Standing Charge tariff trial explained (opens in new tab) (7 July 2026)
• E.ON Next: its 9 June 2026 release (opens in new tab), and Next Lower Daily Fixed 24m v79 (opens in new tab) against Next Fixed 24m v79 (opens in new tab) in its public tariff API. The gaps include VAT at today's rates; E.ON's £150 was quoted while electricity still carried 5%, and is £146.95 now
• MSE's 7 July 2026 round-up of the trials (opens in new tab), for E.ON's 25,000 places and Octopus's term and exit fee, which neither supplier publishes
• British Gas: its standing charge guide (opens in new tab)

The cap figures are for 1 October to 31 December 2026 and change on 1 January 2027. FreePhase Static and E.ON's pilot are fixed, so their gaps to the cap move when it does.