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Rank 5
SteveUK
Rank 5
December 28, 2023

Price increases for off-peak rates (Superdeal)

  • December 28, 2023
  • 34 replies
  • 1264 views

Just received notification of the price changes from 1 January:

Day rate - reduced by 6.22p/unit

Night rate - increased by 2.15p/unit (10% increase)

Heating rate - increased by 5.07p/unit (24.6% increase!!)

This means that the night rate savings is reduced from 17.45p to 9.08p/unit

And the Heating rate savings in reduced from 18.45p to just 7.16p/unit - and this is the first time EVER that the Heating rate has been more expensive than the night rate.

This is grossly unfair of those of us with electric heating (storage heaters). 

It also significantly reduces the savings that can be made by storing night rate in a battery for use during the day time. 

This is a massive backward step by OVO.  They should be incentivising us to use electricity when its cheaper to generate.  Instead, it looks like they are trying to reduce the savings that can be made by storing heat/electricity in order to increase their profits further. 

I am not happy.

    Pinned Reply By Jeffus

    Updated on 03/09/25 by Ben_OVO

    If you’ve come across to OVO on a Superdeal tariff, support for this will be ending soon following the shutdown of RTS. You can find out more here:

     

    @SteveUK once you have a smart meter hopefully switching will be easier as new tariff are launched.

    I don’t have a wiring diagram but confirm that our Superdeal meter has 6 cables going into it (including 3 output cables).  Our wiring set up is complex as it also includes a storage battery (and the Gateway controller) as well as a 4-pole contactor which switches on the storage heaters when triggered by the RTS signal.

    So it sounds like the 4 pole RTS switch will have to go when the RTS meter goes.

    You may want to think about what setup you want with the smart meter. You may have already done this.

    A five port smart meter setup where the 5th terminal turns on and off in sync with the off peak timing of an E7 etc tariff

    A 4 port smart meter setup where the tariff simply changes on the live terminal and you rely on your own external controllers to time when you charge your storage heaters.

    The later option may give you more flexibility in the future as new tariff are launched. 

    There is functionality built into smart meters to control external equipment called ALCS but no one currently uses it and it is unclear if it ever will now.

    34 replies

    Show previous replies
    M
    Rank 2
    mabels
    Rank 2
    January 20, 2024

    Hi I just wanted to say that I also have Superdeal and am most unhappy with the way OVO have split the January 2024 price increase.  Day rate reduced, night rate up and storage rate up even higher. Superdeal is supposed to be a cheap rate for night storage heaters, that seems to have ended and because our meters have to be replaced soon we cannot change tariff or even change to Economy 7 which has a much lower night rate. Feel OVO are being very unfair.

    S
    Rank 5
    SteveUKAuthor
    Rank 5
    January 21, 2024

    Yes, I agree.  I have complained to OVO and asked for an explanation/justification for the large increase in the heating rate.  They say the prices are set by OFGEM but I don’t think this is correct.  OFGEM may set the cap for the average but I don’t they specify how the this is distributed between the rates of a multl-rate tariff (which are specific to the supplier). 

    Our off-peak and heating rate consumption makes up more than 90% of our annual use so we will experience a significant price increase as this far out-weighs the reduction in the peak rate.  I wonder if they have really thought this through for people who have storage heaters and those of us able to shift most of our consumption away from the peak hours (which is supposed to be encouraged!).

    Economy 7 would be a very poor substitute for Superdeal as the storage heaters and the immersion heater need an off-peak boost during the afternoon to work effectively.

      M
      Rank 2
      mabels
      Rank 2
      January 21, 2024

      I have also complained to OVO and had the same answer as you.  Not sure where we go from here. Feel they have made an error  with the split or have just upped the storage heating  charge as we cannot change meters at the moment. Not at all happy,

       

      Jan

        Emmanuelle_OVO
        Retired Moderator
        Emmanuelle_OVO
        Retired Moderator
        January 22, 2024

        Hey @mabels,

         

        I understand your frustration,

         

        This is an interesting thread, I’ll also see if I can find out internally how the split is worked out.

         

        This is what OFGEM have said about the Price Cap Increase. I wonder if the split is to do with the cost of wholesale energy in regards to what energy costs from the grid in peak vs off peak times? 

         

        Pop back if you can to update the topic with what the Complaints Team advise, it may be helpful for other customers in the same boat. 

        Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
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