Add your feedback on energy supplier Powershop
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overworked_underpaid wrote: »My household is a high energy consumer and I am always looking at ways to save on energy costs. I have been monitoring my gas/electricity usage for several years and know my monthly consumption and cost. I will give it 3 to 6 months and if the cost saving is not as they estimate, I will switch to a conventional supplier.
To save you time, this is typical of the comments about Powershop Down Under:
The new changes that have removed the unit price of power Totally Suck!!!!
Powershop used to be the best, now I have to go and manually calculate whether I'm getting a good deal. Have just gone though and on average the per unit price has gone up for me by 2c a unit since the changes were made but I have no way of seeing this without doing a manual calculation for every day. This is really dumb. bring back the unit price Powershop and bring back the awesome!!!!!!!
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Lynette Whale, Pearl Nook, Julie Dumbovich and 3 others like this.
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Powershop NZ
Powershop NZ Hey Toby, thanks for taking the time to review us, although obviously I'm sad to hear that you don't like the changes. Our intention in our new pricing methodology was to make things more transparrent by showing customers at all times exactly what they...See more
30 November 2016 at 17:36
Toby Mills
Toby Mills Really looking forward to seeing the changes. All you need to do is show the rate per kWh for each property in the power pack before you buy it.
I can appreciate the goal of the changes but power shoppers are a savvy lot by their nature and just want to see the raw rates. The changes you made would be absolutely fine if people used the same amount of power every day and the rate for power never changed, but as both of these things are variables, a blended rate misses the goal of increasing transparency and makes it harder to Powershop0 -
Hengus, I appreciate your concern and pointing this out to me.
I thought Ofgem regulations require all energy suppliers to publish TCR (Tariff Comparison Rate) as a method of comparing energy tariffs from different gas and electricity suppliers. The fact you can buy energy in advance at cheaper rates, obviously makes comparison difficult. I wonder if this is within the Ofgem framework and if Powershop are allowed to do this.
When I used the energyhelpline.com comparison website the unit rate and daily standing charge was the 2nd cheapest option with Powershop so I decided to switch with them.
Economy Energy was the cheapest supplier but when I read numerous negative feedback they have received, I decided not to switch to them.0 -
I also noticed Powershop doesn't appear in the MSE cheap energy club comparison site. Is there a way to request for Powershop to be added to their comparison.0
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I got to know about Powershop via the Consumers' Association/Which energy comparison service. I applied to switch to them and emailed MSE to ask why they were not featured in the MSE energy club comparisons. MSE got back to me pretty quick to say they were already working with Powershop to get them listed. This was on 21/4/17. MSE also suggested I start this thread - which I did:Doverworked_underpaid wrote: »I also noticed Powershop doesn't appear in the MSE cheap energy club comparison site. Is there a way to request for Powershop to be added to their comparison.
I got the impression that because the idea of Powershop is that people buy powerpacks via smartphone apps, MSE are working out (presumably with Powershop) what the most representitive way of showing what the price is. Which showed the 'best price' assuming I took advantage of all the discounted powerpacks. To help you (and please read previous posts that confirm this) if you join them and 'do nothing' you will pay one price but if you take advantage of the discounted powerpacks when they become available, you can save approximately 20% over the year compared to the 'do nothing' Price.
I gather the reason they like to know your consumption is that they tailor powerpacks to your particular consumption. Here's a totally made up example: they might for example offer a powerpack for June that offers £45 of electricity for £36. That equates to a 20% reduction on the 'do nothing' price. Now what I didn't previously know (but now I do - see my earlier posts) is that if you don't use all the £45 worth of electricity in June it just remains on your account as credit. Some on this thread had postulated you might lose it - a bit like how PAYG mobile bundles expire after 30 days. Well that doesn't happen with Powershop - I specifically asked that question during a telephone call to clarify something about my transfer to them. My online account should be live soon so I'll be able to understand more about powerpacks and post them here.
Incidentally, I mentioned to Powershop that these threads tend to have an official company representative and that they ought to give thought to having one on this thread. Presumably MSE will discuss this with them whilst they are sorting out how to include their prices in the Energy Club.
Hope the above is helpful.0 -
MSE got back to me pretty quick to say they were already working with Powershop to get them listed. This was on 21/4/17. MSE also suggested I start this thread - which I did
I has the same response from MSE last monthPowershop is a new supplier and its tariff works a little differently to usual tariffs, so at the moment we don't yet include it on Cheap Energy Club. However we are looking into how this could work.that if you don't use all the £45 worth of electricity in June it just remains on your account as credit.
Confirmed in my own talks to Powershop
Like others my current supplier is dragging its feet (Spark) However I should be live shortly.
Saving for me (moved into an old house on Economy 7) should be about 600 a year without buying the special deals. Alternatives did not compare
Will try to make updates on here as to the viability of this system.
I do think that it would be much better if you have a smart meter.0 -
I has the same response from MSE last month
Confirmed in my own talks to Powershop
Like others my current supplier is dragging its feet (Spark) However I should be live shortly.
Saving for me (moved into an old house on Economy 7) should be about 600 a year without buying the special deals. Alternatives did not compare
Will try to make updates on here as to the viability of this system.
I do think that it would be much better if you have a smart meter.
Hi - welcome to the forum. I can see why MSE is struggling with this one. In truth, as far as I can tell, PS only offers one tariff which is variable; that is, it can go up and down. It could be argued that the Easy Saver Promise is equivalent to a 1 Year fixed tariff (but you have to stay a year to get it). However, Easy Saver, which is now showing on some comparison sites, isn't a tariff in the truth sense of the word. Putting it into a PCW as a tariff might mislead some people into taking out a tariff that they do not understand.
The other complication is switching out after 90 days. Let's say that PS raises its standard tariff by 25%. Under Ofgem rules, it has to notify you of this tariff increase and you can then switch away, By doing so - after 90 days - the Easy Saver Price Promise is kicked into the long grass so the switching penalty ( in terms of what you pay for the energy already used) - might be greater than first thought. My logic here might be totally flawed but the lack of any information or guarantees on the PS website doesn't help.
Hopefully, the MSE team will think this one through carefully before listing PS on the CEC website.0 -
Went live with Powershop a few days ago. The experience has been a learning curve. Gone are the days of just pay the direct debit and sit back and ignore the cost. You really need a smart meter to get full advantage of this system. However manual readings are easily entered into the mobile app.
App
The app is nice, works well and is fairly intuitive
Balance
Gives you a current cost per day (3.38 pounds) based on usage (wish I had a smart meter)
Shows how many days you have bought forward (22 days). This is based on the standard tariff or the discounted Powerpacks that you have bought. Basically you can buy enough discounted Powerpacks to cover all of your usage (although at various levels of discount).
Shows how many days in the three months ahead you have bought and at what cost (you have the option to buy small Powerpacks for each of the three months ahead.
A nice calendar to show, based on your current consumption, which days you have paid for your electricity.
Shows the saving compared to their standard rate that you have achieved by buying discounted Powerpacks. 16.71 pounds in the last month.
Shop
This details the Powerpacks that you can buy. Split into three categories
A: Special
Buy both Special Packs (Snack Pack 28% discount and Big Boy 7.3% discount) think about the last Special Pack "Last Call" which you should only buy if really needed as the discount is only 2.8%
B: Top up
Standard Price Pack. This is the price that you pay if you do not buy any Special or Future packs
C: Future Packs
These are all at a percentage discount as follows; 16.5%, 16.9%, 18.3%. Rule of thumb is that you always buy all discounted Powerpacks.
There are also occasional sales of packs with discounts but only a limited availability that you need to be able to react quickly and buy. I have not seen these as yet
Usage
Various charts of usage based on all time average, rolling average, days weeks, months etc
The rates and tariffs applicable to you (based on residential customers in my network area)
Standard Night 8.96 Full discounted rate 7.17
Standard Day 15.41 Full discounted rate 12.34
Transaction history
A full record of all your transactions
Effect on my Electricity usage
Net effect is that this whole set up has really encouraged me to review my electrical usage. I have now checked my meter reading and entered them three times in the last week. Every time I have managed to reduce my daily usage significantly. It’s a great feeling when the app reports that your daily cost is now down to X and that the power that you have already bought now buys you an extra day.
How?
1. Found out the time that Economy 7 runs for me (23:30 to 6:30) (this varies)
2. Bought Timer switches (25 pence Car boot) Set those timer switches to turn on those items that need recharging or that I want to operate during Economy 7 hours e.g. Powerbanks, phones, portable bluetooth speakers and headphones, Watch winder, back up hard disk.
3 Set washing machine to run during the last 90 minutes of the economy 7 time so that I can hang the clothes out first thing in the morning.
4. Cancelled the use of the Dishwasher (except for parties) (do not run these while you are sleeping due to fire risk)
5. Turned off 2 Night Storage heaters and reduced the usage of the other two Night Storage heaters
6. Vacuumed the night Storage heaters (dust reduces their efficiency)
7. Went through every piece of computer kit to ensure that it was either turned off when not needed or went into sleep or hibernation mode when not actively being used (for example NAS servers and external Hard Disks)
8. Reset timings on Immersion heater to mainly work in Economy 7 hours
9. Lowered the brightness on all of the computer screens
10. Put draft proofing on front door
Considering
Putting plastic on the windows for Winter (old house with Grade 2 listing so cannot put in double glazing)
More draft proofing
lagging some pipes
Moving to a warmer climate
Apologies for the length but I got quite enthused
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The other complication is switching out after 90 days. Let's say that PS raises its standard tariff by 25%. Under Ofgem rules, it has to notify you of this tariff increase and you can then switch away, By doing so - after 90 days - the Easy Saver Price Promise is kicked into the long grass so the switching penalty ( in terms of what you pay for the energy already used) - might be greater than first thought. My logic here might be totally flawed but the lack of any information or guarantees on the PS website doesn't help.
Sorry Hengus but I think that your logic is totally flawed IF (and only if) you are using this service to the full. ie buying all the discounted Powerpacks then you have already achieved a bigger saving than promised via the Easy Saver Price Promise. Therefore if you move suppliers you keep that saving. Also Powershop clearly state that you get all future (prepaid) monies back in the event that you do move.
I will give it 6 months and see how it is goes. So far (see previous post) I am taking advantage of the opportunity that the Powershop set up enables to review and revise my electricity usage.0 -
This details the Powerpacks that you can buy. Split into three categories
A: Special
Buy both Special Packs (Snack Pack 28% discount and Big Boy 7.3% discount) think about the last Special Pack "Last Call" which you should only buy if really needed as the discount is only 2.8%
B: Top up
Standard Price Pack. This is the price that you pay if you do not buy any Special or Future packs
C: Future Packs
These are all at a percentage discount as follows; 16.5%, 16.9%, 18.3%. Rule of thumb is that you always buy all discounted Powerpacks.
There are also occasional sales of packs with discounts but only a limited availability that you need to be able to react quickly and buy. I have not seen these as yet
This is very useful advice for new customers. I'm a Powershop customer and I'm waiting for my account to go live so I can buy Powerpacks and this brief guide/purchase strategy is very useful. Do you yet have any idea how long 'short lived' extra discount Powerpacks appear for and how often they pop up?0 -
Just had a special offer which was as follows:
Safe Bet Special @ £15.79 against the standard price of £18.95, saving £3.16 or 16.7%
This was available for 5 days. Email comes to notify you.
They appear at least monthly.
Usage update
Daily usage in May prior to Powershop 34.4 Kwh for £3.12
Current daily usage in May 8.3 Kwh for £1.09
April's bill from Spark was 95 pounds and May with Powershop is looking like 68.12 pounds. June should be about £34
See previous post for list of actions taken to reduce usage
Also
1. Set all computer equipment to lowest usage pattern e.g. going into hibernation in 15 minutes where it cannot be turned off.
2. I put in LED bulbs in the two main rooms (already had halogen energy saving bulbs in the kitchen and bathroom.
Every month you get a Powershop Report which details
How far ahead you have days bought. e.g. 24 days and the cost of those
Average usage per day for the month
A chart showing daily usage
A split between Economy 7 and normal usage
Your last reading
Some advice on saving energy
Monthly bill process
Once your bill is calculated then your EAC (Estimated Annual Consumption) or D19 is revised based on actual usage. This has various effects.
1. The annual and monthly forecast may change based on actual usage
2. The size of your Powerpacks may change as these "fit" your account. As I have reduced my usage my Powerpacks will reduce in Kwh but not in the percentage discount. So you still maintain the same percentage saving overall. This means that you cannot overachieve on the best saving available
3. Your tariff does not change
Hope this helps0
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