I appreciate that the rate had reduced from 10p per kWh to 7p per kwh back in Nov 2023, but given further reductions in wholesale elec prices since then as reflected in the lower price cap on 1st April, with another reduction forecast for 1st July will we see a corresponding decrease to the ovo charge anytime rate??
Best answer by Shads_OVO
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+1
This is just me personally, but I’d agree - that might be helpful to do.
Hi
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Thank you for raising this point. I’ve reached out to the team to look into this for you. I’ll be back once I have an update for you.
Hi
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The team have responded, I’m afraid it seems that there are currently no plans to change the rate for Charge Anytime at this present moment. If this does change in future we’d let customers know as soon as possible.
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Thanks for looking into, but it is a shame that the charge anytime rate isn’t reducing in line with the decline see in wholesale rates.Â
I’m sorry I wasn’t able to come back with better news. Unfortunately Charge Anytime isn’t a tariff so it wouldn’t go down in line with the wholesale prices.Â
Yes, I understand it is not a tariff but it is a reasonable expectation that as wholesale prices reduce that the charge anytime price would also reduce…
+3
I know it’s not like me to take this position, but can I take Ovo’s side. For charge anytime to work effectively it needs a large number of punters charging at random intervals. I suspect that when this was set up Ovo couldn’t be certain it would be profitable, but needed to set a low, attractive, headline grabbing, price. Whether it is now profitable only Ovo know, but they will be keen to recover any early losses.
The best chance of seeing a lower price would be if some other provider were to undercut them as this would eat into the charge anytime customer base. I suppose this cuts both ways, we are tied to an Ovo tariff and they are tied by the need to maintain numbers.
I’m surprised that Ovo haven’t considered other ways to make this more profitable and therefore attracting a lower price. I would have thought this system would lend itself to utilising negative price periods more effectively with Ovo sending out notifications or forecasts to increase charging at those times, though I suppose it would need to be handled with care so as not to overload the system.
Personally I can live with 7p/kWh vat inclusive,  and would be more than happy to comply, where possible, with charge/don’t charge notifications if this led to environmental gains.
+1
In theory, Kaluza Flex is capable of doing exactly that. However, my suspicion is that OVO and Kaluza don’t want to run before they can walk - Charge Anytime is one of the first widescale tests of Kaluza Flex (and by far the biggest!) and there needs to be confidence that it works before they unleash the full potential of what it can do.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a plunge pricing type use case is on the ideas board for it.
A small side note. Price plunging is great and you feel good when it happens but in reality it doesn't change the average charging rate by very much. This is simply because it is quite rare and there is a limit to how much power you can take out of your house wiring before it melts.
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