Money off energy scheme

anna_conda

Does anyone know how they will measure the reduction in your energy usage? What I mean is when will they take a 'baseline' reading so they can see if you really have reduced it? And what would happen if they take a baseline on a day when you are not at home, so usage is very low? It might be worth using loads on a 'baseline day' so that on a test day it will definitely reduce! Being a bit flippant but I can't find an answer to this anywhere yet. 

[Deleted User]

‘For every unit of energy customers save compared to their normal usage during a specific timeframe, Octopus expects to pay customers £4 on average, potentially saving customers around £100* over the course of the winter. The scheme will run between November 2022 and March 2023.

The scheme is enabled by a new flexibility service National Grid ESO is launching this winter which gives all UK energy suppliers the option to financially reward customers who reduce their electricity usage during times of peak demand. The service, which aims to help balance the grid and lower the UK’s dependence on gas, is the largest of its kind in the world.

The service has been tested in the UK already. Between February and March 2022, together with National Grid ESO, Octopus ran the country’s largest household flexibility trial, with over 100,000 of Octopus’ smart meter customers signing up.

The trial proved that households will use less energy at times of high demand for relatively small financial incentives. Customers were emailed and texted in advance to let them know the two-hour slot to ‘turn down’.

During the evening peak, participants reduced their consumption on average by 0.7kWh. The average saving for households per trial window was £0.23, with some participants saving up to £4.35 per ‘turn down’ event.’

Source: Octopus Energy

The way to save is to use a lot (which you have to pay for) in the 10 days prior to each event, and then turn off the mains switch during the savings session. I suspect that most people will be at the lower end of the savings as sessions will only be announced the preceding day.

anna_conda

Thanks dolor - but where does it say '10 days'? I'm not with Octopus, but I suspect that will be the same for all suppliers. So it seems to me that since you don't know when the reduction event is happening until the day before you won't know which 10 days will apply! Be interesting to see what people do actually earn - 23p is not a lot!

Astria

anna_conda said:

Thanks dolor - but where does it say '10 days'? I'm not with Octopus, but I suspect that will be the same for all suppliers. So it seems to me that since you don't know when the reduction event is happening until the day before you won't know which 10 days will apply! Be interesting to see what people do actually earn - 23p is not a lot!

Yes I don't think I'd save a lot even if I signed up to it as my typical usage between 6pm and midnight is approx 150W or so, but for 3 days this week it was more like 50W because I wasn't home. My big usage is typically over a weekend or sometimes during the day in the week.

[Deleted User]

anna_conda said:

Thanks dolor - but where does it say '10 days'? I'm not with Octopus, but I suspect that will be the same for all suppliers. So it seems to me that since you don't know when the reduction event is happening until the day before you won't know which 10 days will apply! Be interesting to see what people do actually earn - 23p is not a lot!

‘ We’ll look at your historical smart meter data leading up to a Session, and calculate what you usually use at that time of day, on average. 

If the Session is on a weekday, we’ll look at your half-hourly usage over the last 10 weekdays (excluding saving session days). If the Session is on a weekend, we’ll look at your half hourly usage over the last 4 weekend days. These half hourly averages are then subject to an ‘In Day Adjustment’ which will make adjustments based on how much energy you’ve used on the day of the session.

We then use these adjusted half-hourly averages as a benchmark – so you’ll earn points for every kilowatt hour you save during your Session.‘

Source: Octopus Energy

https://octopus.energy/blog/saving-sessions-faqs/

EssexHebridean

I suspect they will be very wise to the possibility of some people trying to abuse the system by artificially inflating use ahead of the savings days - and for that reason you will get little notice of whether savings days are happening! 

[Deleted User]

Hi,

here's another scheme, LOOK, seems the anti smart meter folks don't qualify.

k_man

EssexHebridean said:

I suspect they will be very wise to the possibility of some people trying to abuse the system by artificially inflating use ahead of the savings days - and for that reason you will get little notice of whether savings days are happening! 

For weekdays, as the comparison is Vs 10 previous days then gaming the system will be for marginal gains.

(10 x periods of inflated usage to get back 12-13x payback)

Anyone that can loadshift into peak (outside of saving sessions) may stand a chance, but is sort of missing the point!

Spoonie_Turtle

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

here's another scheme, LOOK, seems the anti smart meter folks don't qualify.

Or people with smart meters not communicating for whatever reason, or people who've had engineers come out then say they can't fit them because there's no signal or some other reason.  It's not just people who've refused because they're against them that wouldn't qualify.  Your supplier needs to be receiving half-hourly data from the meter, so if people's meters aren't doing that, they can't participate.

(Of course reducing usage during peak times is not something that needs a smart meter so most of us could try if we wanted to, for societal good, but actively participating in the saving sessions does need a communicating meter.)

[Deleted User]

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

here's another scheme, LOOK, seems the anti smart meter folks don't qualify.

How could they? The scheme is not only designed to reduce demand but to do so at times when supply is close to demand. If it is of any comfort, people with solar and batteries are also unlikely to benefit from the scheme.

[Deleted User]

Dolor said:

frugalmacdugal said:

Hi,

here's another scheme, LOOK, seems the anti smart meter folks don't qualify.

How could they? The scheme is not only designed to reduce demand but to do so at times when supply is close to demand. If it is of any comfort, people with solar and batteries are also unlikely to benefit from the scheme.

Hi,

did you read the link,

However, only homes with smart meters will be able to take part.