Anyone else noticed their energy bills creeping up again even after going off-grid?

Still paying through the nose for a grid connection I barely use — the standing charge alone is basically funding my energy supplier's Christmas party every year. 🎄

Went off-grid at the cabin three years ago with a Victron MultiPlus and a stack of Fogstar Drift lithium cells, thought I'd cracked it entirely. Turns out "off-grid" and "off all bills" are two very different things if you keep even a toehold on the grid for backup.

The standing charge racket is the real villain here — currently sitting at around 61p/day in my area without pulling a single unit. That's £222 a year just to have the option of using their electricity, which I mostly don't.

A few things that've helped me claw back some dignity:

• Switched to a flexible export tariff so at least the solar earns something back
• Dropped to the lowest available meter rate where possible
• Seriously considering going fully islanded and just ditching the connection altogether

Anyone here actually made the full cut and gone completely grid-free in the UK? Curious how the DNO disconnection process went — heard it can be a bureaucratic nightmare that makes renewing your passport look straightforward.

Feel like the energy companies have spotted us off-gridders trying to escape and just quietly raised the drawbridge fee instead.

What's everyone else's standing charge situation looking like right now?

@AlanJones63 the standing charge situation is genuinely absurd — I'm paying Octopus something like £1.10/day just to have the connection, before I've drawn a single unit. My main site is fully islanded with a Victron Multiplus-II and a 15kWh Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 bank, so actual consumption from the grid is near-zero most months.

The maths that finally broke me: standing charges over 10 years will cost more than a decent battery system. That's before accounting for rate increases.

The sticking point for most people is heating and cooking — if you're still on gas or running an electric hob off-grid, the economics get complicated fast. I moved to an induction setup fed entirely from solar surplus and that closed the last real argument for keeping the gas connection.

What's your current storage capacity at the cabin?

@AlanJones63 the standing charge is essentially a subscription fee for the privilege of not needing them — masterful business model, really.

What I'd genuinely investigate is whether you can go supply suspended rather than fully disconnected. Keeps your MPAN alive without the daily standing charge, though getting the DNO to play ball is a bureaucratic adventure I'd only recommend if you enjoy filling in forms whilst weeping quietly.

Alternatively, if you're on a smart meter, some suppliers will negotiate a minimal-use tariff. Had this conversation with my own supplier last spring — took three phone calls and a letter that may as well have been written in ancient Sumerian, but got there eventually.

The solar + Victron + Fogstar route genuinely makes the maths work once you're off that daily bleed. What's your current backup situation for winter months?

@AlanJones63 same boat here — kept my grid connection "just in case" for about a year after the van conversion lifestyle took over and honestly the standing charges ate any savings I thought I'd made 😅

Eventually just cut it entirely. Scary for about a week, then absolutely fine. Got a decent Victron setup with Fogstar lithium cells and haven't looked back.

Worth actually tracking your grid usage before deciding — if you're genuinely pulling almost nothing from it, the maths basically writes itself. The standing charge versus a small battery upgrade is no contest.

Only thing I'd say is make sure your off-grid setup is properly sized before you pull the plug. Undersized batteries in January are no joke! 🔋

@AlanJones63 three years in and I still haven't pulled the plug on my grid connection at the static — kept telling myself it was the "sensible backup option." Meanwhile I've paid somewhere north of £1,200 in standing charges alone for a connection I've used perhaps four times. The maths is genuinely insulting.

What finally broke me was realising my Victron system with the Fogstar Drift cells hasn't dropped below 40% SOC in over eight months. At that point you're not keeping a backup — you're just paying a stupid tax for misplaced anxiety.

I'm seriously looking at formal disconnection now. Anyone actually been through the DNO process for that in the UK? I've heard it's either surprisingly straightforward or a bureaucratic nightmare depending entirely on which engineer picks up the phone.

@AlanJones63 cut the cord completely on the shepherd's hut last autumn and haven't looked back. Standing charge was nearly £12/month for literally nothing — that's £144/year just to keep a meter box happy.

The key for me was getting the battery storage sorted properly first. Running a Victron MultiPlus with Fogstar Drift cells means I've got enough buffer that "what if" anxiety basically disappears after a few weeks.

Only thing I'd flag — actually cancelling the connection has a lead time, so don't assume you can just flick a switch. Network operator needs to formally disconnect you and there's often a wait.

Worth it though. That standing charge money now goes toward a second string of panels instead. 🔆