Updated on 06/03/25 by Chris_OVO
There’s no particularly “dark art” to Power Move. The monthly Power Move is awarded on the basis of a simple calculation: what percentage of your overall weekday usage do you use in the peak hours of 4PM to 7PM? I agree it would be handy if there was a transparent way of seeing within our online account, as the month progresses, how we are doing towards meeting the target. But the online account does show quite clearly how many kWh we use every half hour during every 24 hour period, so it’s not too difficult to check every day or every few days for ourselves and do the arithmetic. And of course @JNeve, that’s precisely how “they know” what we use when we use it. Plus, of course, we can all guess when our usage is likely to be highest, as you say with the consoling post-work cuppa which surprise surprise is exactly when national peak demand occurs: when we’re coming in from work, getting ourselves and children in and fed and watered etc. etc.
@CB1539, I too hope the price drops soon! I wish they’d sort out these iniquitous standing charges, for a start! The 50p you mention earning is for a Power Move Plus “event”, of course, nothing to do with the monthly Power Move, although the events, when they are announced from time to time, do usually fall somewhere within the peak hours of 4 -7, understandably enough. If you’re using around 7 kWh or so per weekday (your £2.50 electricity figure might include the daily SC?), although as you say it’s not particularly heavy, you do have some good wiggle room with that usage, some shifting and tweaking of weekday peak hour usage could well be possible? It’s not always feasible, and I do feel for @Carter_99, 16.69% is not that far outside the target, usage must already be largely along the right lines? Maybe monitor closely on a weekly basis during March?
@SRF the solar panel dimension is frequently mentioned, and PV panels do usually mean that much consumption has already been shifted away from 4 - 7 and into daylight hours. But I find especially in winter that my panels do not approach anything near my consumption requirements. Even in summer they cannot match the demands made by switching on the heavier items like the oven or the washing machine (unless it’s a really, really bright day, and even then the usual background stuff kicking in is enough to require consumption from the grid). I find my minimum 24-hour daily requirement for the house (i.e. without any heavy stuff to speak of) is 2.3 kWh, and the daily winter contribution from my panels is paltry: varies between an occasional 0 kWh and 3 kWh (on a good day, happening more and more as we moved through late February and into March, but never in Dec and hardly ever in Nov or Jan up here in Sunderland). Frequently the panels are producing 100 Watts or less. Do you find that, for you, your solar panels cover all your daytime daily consumption, even in winter? I find I need to buy from the grid to supplement (more than supplement really) my panels, which does give me the flexibility to aim for the monthly Power Move. Mind you, my small battery doesn’t half help…
EDIT…Ah, have only just seen @EverythingNeedsAUserName post…exactly my feeling re PV panels, only very succinctly and graphically put, thank you…
