DD increases AGAIN on the vehicle to grid (V2G) trial - can this be stopped?

No I can set a higher amount  but it’s far far far too high, I only use about £40 a month max !  

That’s an extremely wide range to choose from @D10hul !

It suggests that the algorithm is having significant trouble estimating your charges.

Tim’s not working today. Let’s tag another Moderator, like @Amy_OVO and see if she can rattle the bars of someone working on the Billing software.

Ooops. You can’t afford to be off from Friday @Tim_OVO .

@D10hul is’nt prepared to pay his share of you going anywhere!

I’m unsure that we can assume anything is ‘normal’ in the way these new algorithms are operating @NoPoke 

I’ve just received a request for a flat-rate DD increase of 10% (no spread).

I’ve responded by making a much larger one-off payment into my OVO account to see how it copes with analysing that. (I’ll receive interest on that too of course!)

My Account page has estimated my annual gas usage at roughly double what I believe it should be. That’s because it has only Dec and Jan figures to go on. Before then I was on an older contract and my Smart Meters weren’t operational either.

My gas usage fluctuates significantly during the year. This morning we had bright sunshine in Devon and the gas boiler didn’t need to run for a few hours because my solar hot-water panel was operational.

I assume that the Programming Team are going to concentrate most of their efforts on the algorithms that ensure compliance with Ofgem regulations.

Whilst that’s frustrating for those on the V2G Trial, they’re not going to get their knuckles rapped for incorrect estimates on a new-technology trial of a couple of hundred customers.

Nevertheless, we’re still providing important feedback. So it would be good if @Tim_OVO could let us know whether what we’re writing here is actually being noted by the Programming Team in London.

I guess it would at least be possible to devise an algorithm to estimate gas usage if it varies by a factor of 20 over the year. My situation is more problematic because I get weeks of zero usage when the sun shines.

I’ve just checked my online account and it too only suggests a single value for the DD.

Having just added a one-off payment this morning, it now looks like this…

So it’s interesting that the adjustment of the recommended DD has occurred almost instantaneously.

That suggests a possible workaround for those of you on the V2G Trial. There simply needs to be another field where an estimated credit is taken into account for your monthly grid-feed payments.

Sorry @NoPoke - the User Interface we have is different.

I have the later one. It doesn’t generate an error message unless I actually hit the SAVE button.

I can’t test it with wild numbers like you can.

If you’re going to migrate to the newer UI too, it would be best to also make sure that the Programming Team really are reading our feedback here.

Have you had any response from them yet @Tim_OVO ?

This Forum would be an excellent platform to sort out the issues as we spot them.

Hello @D10hul 

Thank you for getting in contact. 

I can confirm that at the moment OVO is working on improving the algorithm for V2G customers on the V2G trial. As exports are subjective, creating an algorithm to accommodate exports and the need for a realistic Direct Debit for your energy usage is no easy task. 

In the meantime, OVO Care should be able to suspend your Direct Debit check in’s temporarily, to arrange this, simply give the care team a call on 0330 3035063. 

While you’re around @Ash_OVO, a couple of days ago I listened to the V2G Webinar which @Tim_OVO refers to over on this other Topic.

One of the speakers mentioned in passing, that there was an upper limit on the amount of export which was allowed from each EV on the Trial. I can’t now find that passage in the stream, but it was a comment from Conor or Tom during the first 20mins slide presentation.

If that’s so, then why are exports subjective, as you wrote above?

Is there unpredictability because some customers are neglecting to plug in their EVs each day?

@D10hul are the Trialists aware that there’s some sort of export cap when you join the Trial?

Have a listen to the Webinar and see if you can find the reference @D10hul 

If I recall it correctly, the speaker said there was a limit due to battery and grid considerations. Both could be true, and I too am seeking clarifications.

You only need listed to the Webinar from 2m30s to 25m because the slides are then finished and it goes into a Q&A session.

I suspect the speaker was Conor because he tended to cover the background technical issues, whereas Tom concentrated on policy, partnerships and strategy.

I’ve reached out to the OVO Smart Home team, to see if there’s any developments on this, @D10hul - hopefully should get a reply later today...

Thanks for flagging, @Jequinlan 

Can other trialists confirm if this has ever taken into account export payments? @D10hul @Leo Moran @aaronr ?