Power Move- What is the point?

@Middlestreet You could also consider that the reduction in the use of fossil fuel is also an unintended consequence although one that is beneficial in terms of less CO2 being produced.

But I totally agree with you that light users have a much harder time meeting the target compared heavy users like me with an EV.

Peter

Sympathize completely with you. Everyone's household is different. Joined the scheme last year for around nine months and hit target every month but reward wasn't really worth the effort. I'm a WW2 child and the scheme reminds me of the bad old days of rationing in the 50's. For God's sake it's 2024 and we're still being asked to ration energy? 80th anniversary of D Day today and 80 years of incompetent governments who still are incapable of ensuring our energy security. The impending General Election won't make any difference. Name an MP that is part of the Power Move scheme? £90 grand a year plus expenses, they can afford their own generators!

One of the unintended consequences of Power Move seems to be that the easiest way to make the target percentage is to actually increase your overall consumption.  I am not sure how it affects my CO2 production but I always leave my oil boiler heating my hot water in the summer as it seems to be cheaper then immersion - uses very little oil.

Not unintended at all. You never actually thought that an energy company was going to give away shareholders profits did you? Guaranteed that OVO is making more from the National Grid out of this scheme than they are giving back to customers. Beware, with the latest lowering of the energy price cap there will be more of these trick schemes offered. Don't fall for them.

Ian, I would hardly call this a trick scheme . If you do not wish to participate don’t. If you don’t wish to shift usage, don’t. If you’re able to shift and you wish to participate great. OVO will make a percentage no doubt, but so will the consumer if you’re able to shift.

These schemes are not really aimed at the ultra low users as you are a low user, this can feel unfair but maybe change your perspective and be ‘happy’ that you don't need to shift power to try and scrimp and save a few pence or pounds?

Ian, this is nothing at all like rationing, and it’s verging on offence even suggesting it, there are no rolling blackouts, no planned power cuts, no shortage of power.

The national grid has made this abundantly clear the is power. It is appropriate and smart to use you resources effectively, this is what this helps to do. Small changes equal large differences collectively and could mean not needing to look power up a gas turbine, they same way you can be payed to use more electricity when there is excessive, rather than curtailing production.

MPs I’m sure can afford it, but throughout life there is and will always be the haves and have nots, unfortunately, history shows us this, this is alway irrelevant to the scheme and sounds more like greens eyed envy.

Grid balancing and payments to use or not use have as far as i remember always be in place (commercially), the difference now is the public is getting to benefit for the payment mechanisms that was once the limited to heavy industry for example, ie smelting.

as an aside why do you switch off your oil boiler?  Its cheaper to heat water by oil than by electric unless you’re using a cheap off peak tarrif

Can I cut in here re the immersion? Do you need 2x1.5 hours every day? Do you ever run out of hot water? Have you tried lowering the temperature or running it for a shorter time? 

Our only way of heating hot water used to be an immersion on a timer, I had no idea what temperature it heated to I just knew it was hot. The little adjuster on the thermostat was very hit and miss. Our electricity bill was high, mostly due to that. 
Now we have a heat pump I have a sensor on the tank which tells me the temperature. Knowledge is power !!

Ps. the heat pump is so much more efficient that it uses about the same amount of electricity for both hot water and heating as just our old immersion!!!

Its the only way in our household.

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@Baffled but hopeful You are absolutely right. On an SVT or Fixed Tariff at about 24p / unit you can’t get an immersion heater to be more economical than fossil fuel. What I want to say is actually outside the boundaries of this discussion regarding Ovo tariffs.

I agree with the OP, it (Power Move) seem to operate a little perversely when usage is already quite low. It is looking at a ratio between two quantities, so in theory, you could be rewarded for making the denominator (i.e. the total) bigger, not smaller. Though it would be a discount on a bigger bill.