Why do my online usage graphs show I was using energy during a power cut?

Hi @paulbrash .

Was this on OVO’s side or SSE’s side of things? Your post isn’t quite clear so I’ll have to assume it could be either one for now.

If you’re purely looking at the usage data, please bear in mind that this is only a guide and is not used for billing purposes - only the actual meter readings are taken into account. If your meter isn’t spinning at all on a particular day due to an outage, the only charges you’ll rack up (at most) would be the Daily Standing Charges, but the Usage Charges for that day should be zero. MyOVO will sometimes try to estimate usage for any day where it doesn’t have usage data available, but it will correct itself for the billing purposes once the next actual meter reading comes in - and this can automatically wipe out any overcharges caused by the estimates. This rule is the same regardless of what kind of meter you’ve got.

I should probably also mention that while OVO might have some of your cash in the bank, they cannot do anything with it until you’ve actually spent it and this only happens after a bill is generated. Any and all spare credit has to be ringfenced and the only thing OVO can do with it in the meantime is simply keep it safe and either withdraw what you’ve actually spent and throw that into the main accounts, or send it back to you if you ask for a refund. Otherwise it just sits there waiting for something to happen. This isn’t profit per se, because OVO cannot readily use it for any other purpose.

Of course, if the billing does get out of line due to an outage like this, OVO and SSE will indeed be happy to issue refunds if needed. But please bear in mind that the usage graphs alone for any supplier, your In-Home Display and any apps/web dashboards should not be relied upon for billing purposes. It’s all about the meter readings.

If you’re still unhappy, you cannot go to Ofgem about this as your complaint will bounce back. Please follow the complaints processes for OVO/SSE depending on which side you’re on and if you still can’t resolve it you’ll want to go to the Energy Ombudsman rather than Ofgem.