Octopus Go Intelligent Tariff - recent changes

Legrandemeaulnes

Can anyone understand the recent changes? I've watched several YouTube videos and they all have a different interpretation of the new and highly complicated rules. It's very hard to make heads or tails.

To make matters worse, a friend who's already with Octopus (I'm still considering, having now bought an EV) told me about this experience:
"Though we'd got our heads round it. We checked the app and it had flagged up that there was a peak rate 'slot' between 11.00 and 13.00. So we plugged the car in and the car immediately started charging at the cheap rate. We thought oh that's great, so we turned on both the washing machine and clothes drier and they were running happily. But then within that period, Octopus can change it at any point. So there's a couple of times where we we had car charging and wash on but within 20 minutes, they've moved the schedule - the car goes off charge, they reassign it to another point in the day, but at that point you've put everything on in the house but you are now paying the higher rate (what Octopus calls the 'bump rate') from that moment onwards! So it's actually impossible to work in practicality. Then you're stuck putting your washing on from 23.30 to 05.30. I think it's named just because it's very intelligent of Octopus to trick people into thinking they are getting a good household rate and then suddenly move/stop the charging period putting you immediately on the high rate of charge for what you're using".

I don't doubt her, but at the same time I can't imagine Ofgem would let a supplier get away with a blatant cheat like this.

Can anyone tell me if/where we're going wrong?

chrisw

You're not going wrong, that's precisely how it's supposed to work. Any cheap slots during peak hours are a bonus and shouldn't be relied upon to stick all your appliances on. It's not a cheat as it's all explained and set out in the terms and conditions you signed up to.

MWT

What she has described is not how it works.

You first plug the car in and then you will get the initial list of planned charge slots, not the other way around.

Those slots are not fixed and can and will change, but whenever a slot is active during the peak rate period the home use of energy will be at the low rate.

You cannot expect to start long running activities like washing etc. and guarantee that they will complete during the low rate period.

It isn't a trick, just a failure to understand how the tariff works.

Also, there have not yet been any 'recent changes', and when they do happen they are just enforcing the rules that have been there from the start of the tariff, they are not new rules…

MattMattMattUK

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6653605/octopus-go-intelligent-tariff-recent-changes

I think you might have got a bit confused here.

Firstly although the changes were sort of announced nothing has actually happened yet.

Secondly on the off peak slots, they are and have always been able to reschedule any of them that are not in the 23:30-05:30 window. They will not cancel the current 30 minute slot that they are in (Although they may stop charging the car), but they have always been clear about that. There is no cheating going on.

In essence very cheap overnight, the vehicle charges cheaply when they charge it, other windows may vary. In winter cheap slots outside of the night rate are rare unless it is very windy in the north sea, in summer if the car is plugged in they regularly appear during the day when demand is low and solar generation is high.

born_again

https://octopus.energy/blog/intelligent-octopus-go-charge-limit/

Here’s how it’ll work:

• Intelligent Octopus Go customers will continue to receive 6 hours of off-peak electricity for your whole home between 11:30pm and 5:30am. Guaranteed, reliable, schedule-friendly off-peak savings.
• Plus up to 6 hours of super-cheap smart charging every 24 hours – these may be during your home’s off-peak hours (11:30pm-5:30am), outside those times, or a mix of both.
• Whenever the 6 hours smart charging is scheduled outside your off-peak window, the electricity for your whole home will also be at the discounted rates
• If we need to schedule more than 6 hours to reach your target charge, only the first 6 hours of charging will be at the discounted rate – extra half-hours will be charged at your Bump rate (even if they’re scheduled during the off-peak window).

How hard is it to understand what Octopus told you in the email about the changes. Seems that too many of the U-Tubers have no idea & are scare mongering. 😒

Legrandemeaulnes

Many thanks to those who took the trouble to clarify the terms of the tariff. However, I think it's a known fact that the majority of us don't read the small print. And the more exciting the marketing around it, and the more it appeals to our emotions (which at the moment are certainly focussed on the need to save money) the more we are inclined to skip the T&Cs. Isn't it cynical to introduce a product so complex that the true ramifications of getting into a contract are not apparent unless you study the T&Cs? I had hoped that in this day and age, companies selling to the general public were expected NOT TO rely on worn out told tropes like 'you should have read the small print'.

As far as I can see from the blog quoted by born_again here, the 6 hours of super-cheap smart charging every 24 hours mentioned does is not explained as being counted only in half our chunks. I understand (now it has been explained) the once started Octopus will not cancel a half hour slot. But the blog still suggests to me that I could expect my 6 hours ourside the peak rate in every 24 hours to run concurrently. I still don't think it's clear.

I'd also like to point out that most of us only barely have the time to read things specifically addressed to us. How many regularly log onto every supplier's website so they can read the blog, if there is one, just in case it contains some up to the minute information that they should be aware of?

If you object to my use of the term 'cheat' MattMattMattUK, do you think 'Lucky Dip' might be a more appropriate description?

MattMattMattUK

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81869403#Comment_81869403

These tariffs are not that complicated, they are also laid out in fairly simple terms on the website as well as the detailed version in the terms and conditions. The product is really not complicated, it has two rates, it is billed in half hourly slots, with the mechanism for that clearly explained, always cheap 23:30-05:30, sometimes also cheap in other slots which if you only gain from, never loose out from as they charge less than the standard rate in those slots.

The charging will be changing because too many people were using chargers to game the system and get the cheap rate for 12+ hours a day, so they are potentially limiting the charging to a max six hours to stop people doing that. There is the possibility that change might only apply to those who charge via chargers rather than via the car.

It is not a lucky dip either, energy for the whole home will always be cheap overnight, anything outside of that is a bonus. It never costs any more than it would have, it always works out cheaper when these windows kick in (unless someone was going to cook a roast at two in the morning).

Somebody

I'm on IOG, and have learned not to rely on the schedule to turn anything on in the cheap slots as Octopus can change the charging schedule at will.

Case in point on my most recent charge: I had a slot planned at 20:59 for 21:30 to 22:00; which began at 21:30:30, but it was stopped/cancelled by Octopus at 21:31:31!

I have the Intelligent Octopus integration in Home Assistant, and these are the extracts of emails I sent myself to do with charging:

QrizB

Case in point on my most recent charge: I had a slot planned at 20:59 for 21:30 to 22:00; which began at 21:30:30, but it was stopped/cancelled by Octopus at 21:31:31!

As I understand it, if Octopus start a charge during a 30-minute slot then that entire slot will be charged at the cheaper rate, even if they stop it after a few minutes.

This is definitely how it works (at present) with Ohme chargers.

Qyburn

This was quoted earlier, from an Octopus blog (my bold) ..

" we need to schedule more than 6 hours to reach your target charge, only the first 6 hours of charging will be at the discounted rate – extra half-hours will be charged at your Bump rate (even if they’re scheduled during the off-peak window)."

Does that mean that in those circumstances EV charging will be billed at "bump" rate, but other house loads at off peak rate, during the same 1/2 hour slot?

QrizB

Does that mean that in those circumstances EV charging will be billed at "bump" rate, butcother house loads at off peak rate, during the same 1/2 hour slot?

AFAICT Octopus have yet to explain how this would be calculated. Presumably they have something in mind, else why would they have said that in their blog post?