Skip to main content
Gary
Rank 1
Gary
Rank 1
March 9, 2017
Solved

Can we get access to the OVO energy online account API to download our smart meter usage data?

  • March 9, 2017
  • 227 replies
  • 36559 views

Hi Ovo,

I wondered whether the API that powers your live and historical usage page in the account menu is something you could look into opening up a bit so we can freely access our raw data and also perhaps it may stimulate some interesting community projects?

For instance (more sport related), Strava and Fitbit.

    Best answer by g-de

    Updated on 14/08/25 by Abby_OVO

     

    Tim_OVO: “We love seeing the innovative ways our customers are using tech to help monitor and manage their energy usage. It’s inspiring us to think about ways to do energy differently. We know some customers have been using some of the application programming interface (APIs) behind our public facing services. While we’re OK with that, we do need to make you aware of a couple of things.

     

    These APIs are designed to be used by OVO teams only, and aren't public facing. There are some downsides to using APIs that aren't for the public, and we wanted to let you know what these are. Behind the scenes, OVO uses APIs to share and update information between systems that power your bills and your online account. This is done in partnership with Kaluza, the tech company that’s part of the OVO family. They’ve built the billing platform designed to put our customers in the driving seat of their energy usage. 

     

    These internal APIs are intended for use by Kaluza and its clients, who are energy retailers like OVO, rather than customers. Because of this, there’s no support for them being used anywhere else, which means they may be discontinued with no notice when we update our products and services. 

     

    OVO Energy and Kaluza need to be able to monitor these APIs, and may block access if there's any problems in the future.

     

    We know some customers may have put time and effort into developing solutions that use these API. So, now that you know the risks, we want to hear from you on how you’re using the APIs and the problems you’re solving with your DIY approach. 

     

    Is there anything you’d like to see from OVO to help you monitor and manage your energy better? Leave a comment below to tell us.”

     

    can you help me understand if the links above allow users to access raw data as if from an API?

    I can certainly give it a go.

     

    Firstly, big thanks to Timmo and other contributors for developing the library. All thanks go to them and links to buy them a coffee for their effort can be found on PyPi or GitHub:

    https://pypi.org/project/ovoenergy/
    https://github.com/timmo001/ovoenergy

     

    I assume the way the library was developed this was to reverse engineer the My OVO website. That is, browse the website as normal and and monitor the traffic to see what OVO URLs and APIs it uses. Assuming this is the case, one of these URLs (get account IDs) already seems to be different but the library is still working for the moment. The APIs being used are not officially supported outside of the website, so first, a warning that any changes to the My OVO website may break the library.

     

    For anyone using Python, you should be able to include the ovoenergy library and look at https://github.com/timmo001/ovoenergy/blob/master/ovoenergy/cli.py for how to use it.

     

    For replicating this in other languages, the process seems to be as follows:

    1. Login by sending a POST request to https://my.ovoenergy.com/api/v2/auth/login with the following JSON in the body: 
      {
          "username": "...",
          "password": "...",
          "rememberMe": true
      }

      From the response, save the cookies to use in all future requests.

    2. Next, send a GET request to https://smartpaym.ovoenergy.com/api/customer-and-account-ids . Be sure to save the items in the “accountIds” property (usually only one item).
    3. Finally, make a GET request to https://smartpaym.ovoenergy.com/api/energy-usage/daily/{accountId}?date={yyyy-MM} where {accountId} is the value from the previous request and {yyyy-MM} is the month in the format 2020-08.

    You can also get monthly or half-hourly usage using the following URLs similar to step 3:

    As mentioned above, if this is wanted for Home Assistant, the integration was added in version 0.114 (https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/ovo_energy/).


    Unfortunately the data only goes up to the end of the previous day as OVO no longer provide real-time data:

     

    227 replies

    Show previous replies
    Transparent
    Rank 20
    Transparent
    Rank 20
    August 29, 2020

    What about his pay?  :beer:  :wink:

    Save energy... recycle electrons!
    Jequinlan
    Rank 10
    Jequinlan
    Rank 10
    August 29, 2020

    @Transparent we work on helping each other ;)

    John Quinlan
      Transparent
      Rank 20
      Transparent
      Rank 20
      August 29, 2020

      Well in that case it’s :beers:  :tropical_drink:   :wine_glass:  :champagne:  :champagne_glass:  

      Save energy... recycle electrons!
        T
        Newcomer
        TerryE
        Newcomer
        September 7, 2020

        For replicating this in other languages, the process seems to be as follows:

        1. Login by sending a POST request to https://my.ovoenergy.com/api/v2/auth/login with the following JSON in the body: 
          {
              "username": "...",
              "password": "...",
              "rememberMe": true
          }

          From the response, save the cookies to use in all future requests.

        2. Next, send a GET request to https://smartpaym.ovoenergy.com/api/customer-and-account-ids . Be sure to save the items in the “accountIds” property (usually only one item).

         

         

        The issue with caching the cookies is that authorisation cookies have a lifetime.  IIRC, it’s 31 days, so your code still needs to handle cookie expiry and do reauthentication.  You might find it simpler just to do the authentication every time or to have a separate (say weekly) process to refresh the authentication cookie.

          Jequinlan
          Rank 10
          Jequinlan
          Rank 10
          September 7, 2020

          We are getting there! 

          May be a bit longer but getting there with a reusable easy download:

           

          John Quinlan
            Tim_OVO
            OVO Staff
            Tim_OVO
            OVO Forum Legend
            September 21, 2020

            And whilst we’re at it, let’s tag @NinjaGeek too. He might want to playing with this as well.

             

            Just in case you missed this, @NinjaGeek - check out the latest in this thread and the work done by @g-de, @Jequinlan, Timmo and other contributors

            Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
            Jequinlan
            Rank 10
            Jequinlan
            Rank 10
            September 21, 2020

            As a small update, A rival who offers TOU have published a download file for rates, so I can start the work on the comparison model!

            John Quinlan
              Tim_OVO
              OVO Staff
              Tim_OVO
              OVO Forum Legend
              October 6, 2020

              Hey coders,

               

              We might have an update on this in the not too distant future, I can’t share any more just yet, but it’s being looked into.

               

              More to come on this in 2020….

              Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
                Jequinlan
                Rank 10
                Jequinlan
                Rank 10
                October 14, 2020

                @Tim_OVO @Transparent @TerryE @andsee @SianiAnni 

                 

                Here is it: The API exe I promised that takes all that HH data and nicely formats it into a consumable Sheet

                 

                https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1A7XRov0579O53T8OsIGe3wXCk09jul0F?usp=sharing

                 

                Download all the files, and read the Readme! (oh, and Enjoy) - now I can start work on ther TOU comparison tool!! 

                 

                If anyone is willing to send me their export please do!  - It will help me build the tooling.

                John (at) QuinlanServices (dot) Com 

                John Quinlan
                  SianiAnni
                  Rank 4
                  SianiAnni
                  Rank 4
                  October 14, 2020

                  Thanks @Jequinlan Have got it working, and it confirms last HH gas data was logged on 19 August 23:30!

                  What’s the TOU comparison tool you’re working on next?

                  SianiAnni
                  Show more replies
                  Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement

                  OVO Energy Ltd, Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, BS1 6EZ, (Company no. 06890795) registered in England and Wales.

                  OVO (S) Gas Limited is registered in England and Wales (Company No. 02716495) at Floor 5, Crescent, Temple Back, Redcliffe, BS1 6EZ.

                  OVO (S) Gas Limited is part of OVO Group Ltd