Does OVO have any plans to launch an agile Time-Of-Use (TOU) tariff?

Any update on this yet? My friend was just posting his meter rates from Octopus Agile where they were paying him to use energy at certain times.

Tony

Ah… I’m glad you brought this up again @tony1tf .

About 2 months ago I sent @Tim_OVO a “wish-list” of Topics I’d like to see on an agenda for a Forum Members Visitors’ Day this year. Time Of Use tariff was one of the subjects I requested.

I wasn’t just wanting for OVO to tell us what they were doing, but also to feed back to their Management what features would be useful/attractive to us as customers.

Although the Covid-19 pandemic has obviously intervened to curtail plans for such a meeting being held in Bristol, I believe that Tim has still been finding out what OVO’s strategy is, and whose responsibility it is to move the company towards Demand Side Response.

Let’s hope he picks this up tomorrow and can tell us a bit more.

We may yet be able to arrange a Forum-based “Briefing” on the subject, or even group some of us into a one-off video-conference if needs be. It all rather depends on how OVO themselves feel about sharing ideas beyond their own internal strategy meetings. There’s obviously a lot of stuff which is company-confidential.

I have definitely seen Octopus rates shown on twitter a lot recently. They are very attractive, especially for EV drivers. 👍

I agree @ITGeek123 - but it’s easy to get lots of Tweets if you’re currently the only Supplier offering a Time Of Use tariff!

I think there are many aspects to building such a tariff. And potential customers will make decisions on which half-hour slots they use for differing reasons.

For example, OVO probably has a high percentage of customers who might opt for slots where there is a higher proportion of renewables in the energy mix. Price alone is not the deciding factor.

The UK’s DNOs have put together a basic TOU structure referred to as DCP268, which is based on the wholesale market. However, this only offers three different price-bands within the 24-hour period, labelled red, amber and green.

That strategy may be easily understood if offered to customers, but doesn’t have the granularity which Octopus currently offer. There are pros and cons to this approach.

That was why I requested a discussion with relevant OVO Managers before a tariff actually got launched. I think any proposed TOU tariff would benefit from being tested by a “consumer panel” first.

Yep thanks for showing an interest @tony1tf and for the info @Transparent - as mentioned above I am in the process of finding and defining our strategy on TOU tariffs. This topic will be the perfect place to share the latest when I have it. 

If we can get some detail, I like the sound of a video call to discuss implications. Or have it as a talking point for the next VIP visit. One thing to be clear is that during this difficult timed globally, our focus is on helping our customers and members who need our support. Please see the COVID FAQ here. 

Bump

Great to see continued interest in a Time-of-Use Tariff, @amackayj.

As advised in the update above we’ve not got immediate plans to introduce the type of dynamic plans discussed here. We're always reviewing our tariff offering to make sure our available plans offer both flexibility for our members and are sustainable commercially, so we welcome these discussions on the type of energy plan you'd like to access in future.

As you might already be aware we’ve recently launched a unique ‘Type-of-Use’- EV plan - OVO Drive + Anytime which offers EV drivers an exclusive price for the energy used to charge up their wheels. 

Any Update? Octopus are offering good rates for overnight electricity, and their gas prices are very similar to OVO, so OVO should be catching up before their business evaporates. we have 2 EVs and underfloor electric heating in the bathroom so can definitely make use of a few nighttime hours at cheap rate. Unfortunately, the fixed deals on Drive Anytime got astronomically expensive, so we are on the standard variable tariff now.

Tony

@tony1tf 

Octopus have openly said in the past their Octopus Go rate is subsidised. 

Just my personal opinion... 

I suspect OVO have taken a business decision they don't want to or can't afford to do the same. 

While the number of potential users is relatively small it is relatively easy for Octopus to subsidise and relatively easy for OVO not to worry about the competition.

Do you know if Octopus are taking on new Octopus Go customers if you phone up and ask? 

Hey @tony1tf,

Thanks for your great question.

We haven’t launched a Time-Of-Use tariff.

Unfortunately, I imagine given the current market volatility and everything going on with implementation of the Energy Bills Support Scheme and the Energy Price Guarantee this is unlikely to be prioritized. But it’s certainly a good idea. 

We have just launched ‘OVO Power Move’ which might be of interest you. 

Thanks @Emmanuelle_OVO - just looked at that. Doesn’t look like that will be of much benefit to us customers that already have smart meters, smart (EV) chargers, timers on immersion heaters, solar PV etc.  We already tend to turn on domestic devices when the sun shines!

Tony

Personally i think it is important to get as as many new domestic customers involved as possible, so you are probably not a priority given the great progress you have already made. Well done! 

There is also a big push currently by the National Grid ESO on non domestic consumption. Currently only 32.7% of electricity consumption is domestic. So there are big wins to be made on non domestic consumption as well. 

I have given up waiting for OVO to offer a ToU tariff, and so I am now switching suppliers.  OVO needs to be more flexible in its tariff offerings. 😥

Hi @TerryE 

Out of curiosity. 

Are you switching to Octopus Agile?