Is the new power move criteria a con?

Without wanting to get into a tussle over this (it’s not worth it) but it leads on to another subject which is worth mentioning.

Definition Con: (noun) An instance of deceiving or tricking someone.

There is no deception by OVO or OVO attempting to trick anyone as the rules for getting the reward is laid out in clear terms. When people seem to be saying is that its a con perhaps from the realisation that it is quite difficult, as a low user of electricity, to achieve the target YET other people are getting the reward (by managing to adapt their usage) so why am I missing out? It must be a con. Not everyone is in the position to be able to change their pattern of electricity usage around peak usage. Sometimes you are in a position to do something like this sometimes you’re not.

Here’s something to think about. If electricity were half price outside of the peak hours how much effort would you make not to use electricity in the peak? This is not a hypothetical situation because in the future there will be a move towards flexible and dynamic pricing and you can find any number of articles on the internet talking about this. Cutting peak demand is going to be essential in the future to reduce carbon emissions because during the peak the most expensive and polluting power stations are brought on line. Some companies already operate the model of expensive peak / cheap off peak and it’s surprising how it concentrates the mind regarding using peak time electricity.

Peter

Yes Nick, It is a total con in line with many of OVO’s promises. They claim that my Smart Meter isn’t working at their end ( it has never worked at my end!) and they can’t evaluate my Power Move for July….oddly, checking my online account, I can see the usage for every day. I guess the answer is to make all your power demands right in the middle of the power save window - seems it’s not going to affect the bill.

So far I think I’ve hit every power move target by the maximum. I was getting the £15 & now I’m getting the £10. I’m a low user anyway, & in the summer I’m an even lower user as I have solar panels with battery storage so most of the day when the sun is shining it’s powering everything I use & in the evening the battery kicks in. So actually it’s quite hard to show that I’m using less power in peak times. 
What I do though is to make sure that when I do any cooking, I do it in bulk & either freeze portions or pop them in the fridge for another day. That way if I’ve had to cook in peak time at least I’m effectively halving or thirding the power I’d use. Mostly I try to cook out of peak times though, & now weekends are OK to use I do a few batches at the weekend, & also do my washing then if the weather’s good for hanging outside on the line. 
I also make one big pot of tea out of peak time & pop it into a flask to drink in the evening. 
The tv doesn’t go on in peak times (is there actually anything worth watching?). If I want to watch catch up I watch it on my laptop that I’ve charged during non-peak times. I honestly don’t think I’m missing out on anything.
All in all I’m very pleased with power move because the £10 is actually a sizeable chunk off my bill. It can take a little bit of thought to get a routine going especially when peak times change but once in the groove it’s ok. 👍 

All that hard work’s no good if they say they can’t read your Smart Meter though.

I’ve hit the top tier of the target every time but this month my peak usage is 15 percent. 

Is it a con?  No.

Fair enough, Nukecad I agree the use of language is incorrect, and I wrote it at a time when I’d just got the result, when I felt I couldn’t do much more to achieve the highest tier as I have done every time before. Seemed it was unachievable. At the same time I’d just checked my account - nearly £600 in credit and they still increased my direct debit a few months ago (I think in all the years I’ve been with OVO my account only got to about £7 in debit for a couple of days) which I didn’t mind so much until they ended the interest reward. Overall I was feeling a bit “conned”. But you are right… frustrated is probably the correct word for me, because there’s so much I like about them as a supplier.

It’s worth saying this again though for the others. There’s no con here and definitely no scam here.

It’s just unfortunate that this doesnt work out for every type of customer.

I also bulk cook and freeze to save power and for convenience. It’s a great idea. I also do this out of peak times. Being retired we can always eat our main meal at lunchtime. I’m loathed to stream more than I do already because streamin, downloading and the general power consumption is massive in comparasion to watching through the ariel or recording and watching later. I’m surprised that more of a thing isn’t made of reducing the consumption of the internet, to be honest. Great, constructive comment though, thanks!  

I absolutely agree. It’s really strange if you can see your usage online but they say they can’t see your meter reading! 😮

I was going to ask whether it’s a WiFi or signal sending problem of some sort but if you can see your usage online & they’re sending you a bill every month then something is apparently getting through. Perhaps the problem is that the data isn’t going out half-hourly, just hourly - although if you can see your half-hourly usage online then something is definitely wrong at their end.
I’d absolutely insist on them coming out to have a look at your end & fix it if it’s possible, or put in a complaint to get it sorted their end - after all, how do you know whether the data they’re getting/ using is accurate? Is it actually your data????