Skip to main content
Chris_OVO
Community Manager
Community Manager
January 28, 2025
News

Power Move - new challenge information and changes to Power Move

  • January 28, 2025
  • 238 replies
  • 7839 views
Power Move - New challenge information and changes to Power Move

Updated on 14/07/26 by Abby_OVO

 

Hi everyone,

 

In 2024, OVO customers saved over £1.6 million by shifting their energy and making greener choices with Power Move.

 

Ahead of the challenge starting 1 February 2025, we introduced a few changes.

 

 

Power Move prize draw

 

Whilst Power Move will always be about helping you save money on your energy bills and reducing demand on the energy grid, the way it works has changed.

 

Each month, if you use 15% or less of your total electricity during peak times you’ll now earn entries into a monthly prize draw. The number of entries depends on how much electricity you use during peak times. The lower your home’s peak time energy use, the more entries you’ll earn.

 

 

How we calculate your number of entries

 

If you have a peak time electricity usage of 15% or less at the end of the month, you’ll earn entries for the prize draw. 

 

The amount of entries earned will correspond with your end-of-month peak time electricity use percentage as follows:

 

  • 0 to 1% = 15 entries
  • 1.01 to 2% = 14 entries
  • 2.01 to 3% = 13 entries
  • 3.01 to 4% = 12 entries
  • 4.01 to 5% = 11 entries
  • 5.01 to 6% = 10 entries
  • 6.01 to 7% = 9 entries
  • 7.01 to 8% = 8 entries
  • 8.01 to 9% = 7 entries
  • 9.01 to 10% = 6 entries
  • 10.01 to 11% = 5 entries
  • 11.01 to 12% = 4 entries
  • 12.01 to 13% = 3 entries
  • 13.01 to 14% = 2 entries
  • 14.01% to 15% = 1 entry
  • 15.01% or above = 0 entries

 

After each month ends, the number of entries you’ve earned will be automatically entered into a prize draw, along with all the entries of other customers who’ve earned entries in that month.

 

 

The prizes

 

A minimum of 5 customers each month will win up to a year’s worth of free energy*, with a range of other bill credit prizes also available to win. There’ll be a minimum of 10,000 prizes available every month.

 

You can see what prizes are being offered in the Power Move section of your OVO app and on ovoenergy.com/power-move at the beginning of each new month. 

 

If you’re a winner you’ll be notified in the Power Move section of the app. Customers can win one prize per month.


 

Changes to peak times

 

We've heard your feedback that it can feel difficult to shift your home’s energy use during the current window of 4-7pm. From 1 February 2025, peak times changed to 5pm-7pm, Monday - Friday

 

Weekend usage is still counted as off-peak.

 

 

Updates via the OVO app

 

You'll be able to see your progress through the app. When the new challenge is live, sign in to your account and select 'Power Move' on the home screen.

 

Here, you’ll have a progress dashboard to track how you’re getting on, and see if you’ve won a prize at the end of the month.

 

For more information, visit ovoenergy.com/power-move, our Power Move FAQs and Power Move terms and conditions.

 

*A year’s free energy is set at a maximum bill credit of £2,000. A year’s free energy is calculated in line with Ofgem’s average Energy Price Cap for January-March 2025 for customers paying by Direct Debit, which is worked out based on a 2-3 bedroom house, with 2 to 3 occupants using the average domestic usage in electricity per year. Credit may not equal one year’s free energy if you are a higher than average user or if the price cap were to increase beyond current forecasts. We’ll pay it as energy bill credit in 12 monthly instalments. For example, if you win a year's free energy in January, the credit would be applied to your bill in February and each following month up to the last payment in January the following year.

238 replies

Newcomer
January 31, 2025

lets explain what happens at Peak times, a good example is the 8th of January this year where the cost of electricity for OVO to by was around £1.16 kWh for them to buy much higher than we pay ( each day peak costs are different depending on overall demands of the country). At 2 am in the morning that day it cost £0.055 kWh for them to buy. The price we pay is an average price + something to cover for other families that have hit the price cap and don't pay any more as then the company would go bankrupt, so if you use less at peak times your personal average price comes down and their profits increase.  The current system gives the consumer some repayment for their reduced average.  The new system, as someone has said is a lottery where you play and pay to play by using less electricity and then still pay the ofgem average price. I am not sure even Albert Einstein would want to play a lottery like this one.

Rank 5
January 31, 2025

Wooohoooo, 19:01, freedom from these shackles ! 😜 

Looking forward to Monday 

Rank 5
January 31, 2025

……..The price we pay is an average price + something to cover for other families that have hit the price cap and don't pay any more as then the company would go bankrupt, so if you use less at peak times your personal average price comes down and their profits increase.  ……..

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the price cap isn’t a cap (limit on total bill), it’s a theoretical limit based on the magical average user. Its a limit on the unit price and standing charge, but if you use more, you pay more. 

Rank 4
February 1, 2025

I personally agree with everyone’s points about what has been a brilliant motivator, now looking like an utterly pointless lottery where you’re not even told the odds of winning. Coupled with the blatant exploitation of forum volunteers, and the fact that OVO won’t integrate with Ripple Energy, this change to power move is what will finally set me free. 

Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
February 1, 2025

lets explain what happens at Peak times, a good example is the 8th of January this year where the cost of electricity for OVO to by was around £1.16 kWh for them to buy much higher than we pay ( each day peak costs are different depending on overall demands of the country). At 2 am in the morning that day it cost £0.055 kWh for them to buy. The price we pay is an average price + something to cover for other families that have hit the price cap and don't pay any more as then the company would go bankrupt, so if you use less at peak times your personal average price comes down and their profits increase.  The current system gives the consumer some repayment for their reduced average.  The new system, as someone has said is a lottery where you play and pay to play by using less electricity and then still pay the ofgem average price. I am not sure even Albert Einstein would want to play a lottery like this one.

I’m on a Fixed Rate Tariff that sits well below the Ofgem Price Cap so this particular “lottery” is actually even cheaper for me to play than it would be otherwise. Remember that not everyone is on the price cap tariffs - plenty of folks also play the fix deal game too!

Additionally, Power Move has always been about MOVING usage, not reducing it. Long story short: MOVE heavy usage outside of the Peak slots and you can still do whatever you want the rest of the day. If you can’t do so, no worries! You lose nothing if you can’t take part.

Wooohoooo, 19:01, freedom from these shackles ! 😜 

Looking forward to Monday 

Arguably, you were never shackled in the first place. Power Move is designed to not punish those who didn’t manage to shift usage for a genuine reason. Alas, by leaving, what you’ve done is increased my chances of scooping a prize at the end of February.

I noted that someone asked for details about the odds of winning something. I do know the stats, but it’s under an NDA type request at this time and I don’t have permission to reveal that data. This is standard stuff when you get to peer behind the curtain because leaking things before they’re ready for the limelight is a sure-fire way to lose that trust. My apologies for this. If the Power Move team grants permission however, I may be able to drop some stats but I can’t reach them at weekends.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
Blastoise186
Super User
Super User
February 1, 2025

……..The price we pay is an average price + something to cover for other families that have hit the price cap and don't pay any more as then the company would go bankrupt, so if you use less at peak times your personal average price comes down and their profits increase.  ……..

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the price cap isn’t a cap (limit on total bill), it’s a theoretical limit based on the magical average user. Its a limit on the unit price and standing charge, but if you use more, you pay more. 

This is correct. The Ofgem Price Cap limits the maximum Unit Rate/Standing Charges only. Suppliers can, of course, rebalance the two at their discretion as long as their alternative rates balance out to be about the same as the price cap.

However, it’s not one cap for the entire country - it’s one cap for each region. And yes, if you use more you will pay more. Likewise, if you use less (like I do) then you will pay less.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
Peter E
Super User
Super User
February 2, 2025

First of all I will declare that I’m one of the forum volunteers on here but I’m also with Octopus with their Agile tariff which may seem strange but OVO say a volunteer is a volunteer and that’s that. Up to now I’ve decided not to get involved in the, let’s say, ‘closely worded’ discussions going on and I’ve decided just to let these sink in to get a feeling for what is happening here.

 

I think the best way to describe how I feel about this is, that given the constraints on the funding for this (i.e. it basically doesn’t have any funding – if I’ve got that right), it seems to be the best way of doing this. However, as someone who could be enticed back into the OVO fold I have to make a judgement on whether Agile is better or one on the tariffs that OVO are offering with a discount from the PM Rewards. Now, it’s a strange thing to compare a tariff for which I have no idea how much it will cost me in the future (Agile) with a tariff with a pretty well defined cost but unknown PM Rewards because it is now down to chance. Take a step over to Premium Bonds where the pay-outs are equally random.

 

The more Bonds you have the greater the potential pay-outs. The thing we have with PBs though is, given a sufficiently large holding, the annual pay out is about 4%. For the rewards from OVO, the likely returns from PM have not yet been published, if indeed it would be possible to do given that there may be restrictions in the relevant betting and gaming laws if they apply.

 

So, I would have to make a decision between Agile where I can’t work out my future costs** or go with an OVO tariff for cost certainty but be completely unable to work out what the PM Reward is likely to be on average as there is no data. On top of that, unlike the Premium Bond situation, I have no idea if the points I would get each month would constitute a ‘sufficiently large holding’ to ensure that the rewards would even out to an average percentage. Thus avoiding the situation, which I’ve seen mentioned previously, where I could do everything right for every monthly challenge but still end up with nothing to show for it at the end of the year.

 

As a summary, for me it would be too many unknowns to go for an OVO tariff with PM Rewards to offset the cost. And this is comparing it to a tariff where I can’t calculate the future cost but it’s highly likely to be cheaper.

 

I will also declare that I have been party to early details on this but the very wide, interesting and thought provoking comments in this thread have highlighted some of the black holes which I didn’t even know were missing. I’m not saying this scheme will not succeed but at the moment it just seems to be lacking detail on how it would work out in practice for individuals.

 

Peter

 

** They are highly likely to be lower than an SVR or a typical Fixed Price contract. This is because the timeslots where I charge my car midnight to 6am is almost never as high as the SVR and often much lower

 

 

Reducing my yearly fossil fuel usage with an EV (-900 litres petrol), A2AHP (-8,700 kWh gas) and Timed Immersion heater (-1,500 kWh gas)
Deanna Troi
Newcomer
Newcomer
February 3, 2025

Hey everyone, 

Thank you for the comments and feedback we’re currently looking at this and taking things on board, we appreciate any and all feedback.

A couple of updates we’ve picked up so far below:
 

  • If you can't see the sign-up, make sure you have the updated version of the app.
  • All current Power Move customers are being emailed today, due to the volume they get staggered and everyone should receive the email by this afternoon.
  • The end-of-month results will be included in your end-of-month email. There was an update in the app yesterday, and your next update would have been your end-of-month results, which you'll still get around the start of February via email.


We’ll continue to share updates along the way with you all, we've reached out to the team on some of the other points raised and just waiting to hear back.

Can you confirm if £10 is on offer for 2% 

I will certainly try to reach that if so?

 

Deanna Troi
Newcomer
Newcomer
February 3, 2025

Initially not impressed with the changes but will try for a month, especially as it is only 2 hours. Hoping for confirmation of the 2% £10 reward that will help too.

Nukecad
Super User
Super User
February 3, 2025

Hi ​@Deanna Troi 

Yes, for February and March there is a £10 credit if you attain below 2% peak usage.

See the Power Move Terms and Conditions - section 4 "Prizes, Prize Draw and Power Move Credit" #4.4

https://www.ovoenergy.com/power-move-terms

 

£10 Energy Credit

4.4 Until 31st May 2025, any customer who has peak usage of less than 2.00% (1.99% or below) will also receive £10 energy bill credit, as well as their prize draw entries.

 

I’ll probably try for it, with there only being the 2-hours now counted as peak then it might just be reachable for me.

I said, Hey - Watts going on.