Count me in!

I wish. They still haven’t sorted the problem with the website, so I can’t even JOIN Power Move! This has been going on since September.

Ok I’ll give it a shot

Happy to help as not only have we achieved the reduction but it has also made a positive effect on our lives.

Sorry Tim, but I’m not impressed by Power Move!!!  I just don’t have enough electric load, that I can move out of the 4 to 7 period.   I could only achieve required percentage by running my dishwasher and washing machine half empty, which is not very clever is it??

   Rgds,

            Steve

PS.  I do try and run them outside the peak period, because it’s the green think to do, but it’s just contributing to OVO’s profit, and I am getting no financial benefit!!!

If you need any additional folk, count me in too….I received a pro rata payment for September as I joined late, and it was instantly credited to my account when the monthly due date arrived on 4th October.

Hello @Chrisgh , that’s bad news you haven’t been able to join PowerMove, so frustrating…have you tried joining via your personal OVO account pages rather than the OVO website (look for “Discover Path to Zero” link off your Account’s home page and then look for the “Discover Power Move” button, and click on it to join.  

Hope this works for you?  Let us know….

I can’t see (and never have seen) a “Discover Path to Zero” link on my account home page, or anywhere else. https://account.ovoenergy.com/power-move just comes up with the usual

I’ve just noticed that from the error page there is a link “ Back to Path to Zero “. It takes me to a page with a pretty banner:

If you’re OK with it, I’d happily go up for this one!

My only request is that my forum username is used rather than my IRL name. :)

Hi @Chrisgh I can well understand how you feel! My own meter suddenly gave up sending any electricity readings on the very day that the October Power Move started! They’re going to fit a new meter next week, though, even though this one is only two months old! But I’ve got to say in fairness they’re definitely trying to solve the issue for me.

In your case, I can remember reading posts from other forum members suggesting that this “Oops” message may be to do with your browser rather than a problem (as such) at OVO’s end. I’m afraid I’m not the most technical person, but that annoying error message has cropped up as you say for loads of people trying to access the Power Move join button, and IIRC has been solved for many people by trying a different browser.

I’m surprised though you’re not able to access the button via the OVO app or via your own online OVO account pages, that’s a nuisance, as that is the way I first heard about the Power Move incentive, spotted by accident the link on my home page last month.

Do try a different browser, if you’ve got the patience and are not totally frustrated by the whole endeavour…hope you’re not, it’s worth giving it a shot…

I’ve already tried Firefox, Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Cleared cookies. PC and Phone. And reported all this to them. Nothing works.

Hi Tim, I'm happy to help. Look forward to hearing soon. 

Thanks Sue 

If you can’t get the page to work in your browser, that suggests something else on your device or your network could be the culprit. Please make sure ALL Anti-Tracking and privacy enhancing stuff is disabled e.g. VPNs (not that you need them anyway), Super enhanced anti-tracking browser settigs, Anti-Tracking tools etc.

I only joined last month and have just received the middle of the month update on target at 6.8% 

I use smarthome to help achieve the goal. 

Hey @Chrisgh,

Have you had any luck? What’s the latest on this?

Thank you to everyone that has messaged, and to those that have said you’re happy to take part. I will be reaching out and confirming next steps shortly. 

In the meantime, @Chrisgh as well as the above advice from Blastoise, can you confirm that your online account homepage doesn’t have the ‘Path to Zero’ tab as shown here:

Tim_OVO wrote:

Thank you to everyone that has messaged, and to those that have said you’re happy to take part. I will be reaching out and confirming next steps shortly. 

 

In the meantime, @Chrisgh as well as the above advice from Blastoise, can you confirm that your online account homepage doesn’t have the ‘Path to Zero’ tab as shown here:

 

 

The Path to Zero doesn’t appear on the menu on PC browsers, even with all anti-virus protection switched off. However I have just tried again on Firefox on my phone and it now works. (It didn’t when I tried a couple of weeks ago.) First I tried the mobile network and then I connected the phone to my broadband network. It works on both. So I can finally access Power Move.

Thanks to everyone on this forum who has helped. My original request to OVO support got me absolutely nowhere.

I will try to find out why the PC browsers don’t work, for my own interest.

I think this is a great incentive if you understand how it works. A lot of people don't. This scheme does not reduce energy usage but is a discount or rewards scheme for switching usage outside peak periods. Going on holiday and turning everything off ain't gonna do it!

It's not rocket science, just means rearranging your day so you do your cooking, laundry, hoovering, ironing and dishwashing either side of 4pm and 7pm.

Of course if you already carry out these tasks outside this period you are not going to get the discount. It's not that hard to understand -is it?

Anyway, I'm a single pensioner and for all single pensioners out there I have one tip that can save a fortune. I like to cook and it is difficult shopping as a single person. Supermarket portions tend to be for two or a family.

I always buy family portions and freeze future meals.

Let me give an example. Sainsbury's today we're selling two small chicken breasts for £3.50 and a whole chicken for the same price.

Cooking a casserole for 6 costs no more than cooking a casserole for 1 and only takes a minute or so to reheat after defrosting. And, it's universally accepted that frozen and reheated casseroles, curries and stews taste even better.

I despair that our younger and mid-generation population are so uneducated and ignorant in basic life-skills that they rely on commercial services to wait hand and foot on them while they lounge on their sofas unable to separate themselves from their mobile phones or gaming machine. 

Unfortunately these people are quickly forming the majority. I am so glad I'm a pensioner with probably not much time left. God help the rest of you in twenty or thirty years!

Hi @IanFerguson, informative post!

Of course if you already carry out these tasks outside this period you are not going to get the discount. It's not that hard to understand -is it?

One still could qualify for the discount, though, I think: by continuing to do those tasks you cite outside the  peak times, without changing those usage habits, the incentive could well be earned, whereas before there was no particular monetary reward.  
 

That’s what I like about Power Move: for the first time ever I’ve been offered a financial incentive to modify, adapt (or in the case of some well-organised individuals as you intimate above) or maintain my peak usage behaviour…I guess in the near future we’ll see more incentives using smart variable tariffs etc., but with this one you can actually monitor day by day (via the half-hourly usage stats in our OVO account) how the challenge is progressing. A straightforward hit or miss incentive. 
 

I do hope, however, that OVO (and indeed all energy providers, surely?) can eventually provide a graph for every user in their account usage pages showing peak usage hours as a percentage of total usage.  In OVO’s case, the algorithm must already exist for the weekday usage stats for all PowerMove users, it would be nice for us to actually benefit from it as the weeks progressed through the relevant month.

Anyway, Ian, in your own case it looks like you’ve got the incentive well in hand, all the very best of luck with it, let us know at month end how it’s gone for you….

Hi Waltyboy. Thanks but your first statement is totally wrong. If you already do your household tasks outside the 4-7 pm period you won' t gain any benefit. The idea is to reduce your overall average daily consumption at these times.

It actually makes a lot of sense. The vast majority of the population arrive home from work and school between 4 and 7 and on goes the TV, computer, Hi Fi, Xbox and cooker, followed by dishwasher, out comes the hoover, iron. There is nothing wrong with that, it's been a part of daily life for decades. What it does however is put a strain on the supply on the supply network and what OVO are trying to do, commendably, is to reduce consumption during peak periods which is going to be critical once gas and coal power stations disappear in the not too distant future.

Small changes aren't that difficult (for most). Instead of turning on the TV or games machine, read a book, do a crossword, get a hobby - make something!,  and, I'm certain the dog would love an extra walk in the park! 

As I said before it ain't rocket science, just a small change in attitude and behaviour, although I suspect for some this may be be more difficult than rocket science itself!!

Hi @IanFerguson Many thanks for the reply and the kind explanations…I still only partly understand your explanation, though, apologies for being a bit slow! 

I had earlier said:

One still could qualify for the discount, though, I think: by continuing to do those tasks you cite outside the  peak times, without changing those usage habits, the incentive could well be earned, whereas before there was no particular monetary reward.  

to which you’ve kindly replied:

If you already do your household tasks outside the 4-7 pm period you won' t gain any benefit. The idea is to reduce your overall average daily consumption at these times.

If, say, you have already reduced usage during the key weekday slot 4-7, then, as you rightly intimate, you cannot further reduce the usage during that peak time.  But that doesn’t preclude you qualifying for the incentive, surely? Yes, in that circumstance you can’t reduce minimal usage to less than minimal usage during 4-7, but if you’re already hitting the required target in this way, and have been doing for so,e time, it doesn’t mean you won’t qualify for the monthly Power Move payment.

For example, I’m willing to bet that folk who hit the September 12.5% Power Move target (like myself, for example) are more than willing to have a go at hitting the October, November and December 13.5% targets as well! Surely they won’t just say “I can’t reduce my usage any more, I’ve done it for one month, any further reduction is not possible”?

I think what I don’t understand in your reply is your (quite justified, as you point out, given most people’s typically high usage 4-7) emphasis only on the key word reducing 4-7 usage, even for the (admittedly limited) number of people who’ve already satisfactorily reduced their 4-7 usage to below 13.5% of their total daily usage: in their case, they have no need for further reductions, given their qualifying percentage, they need only continue their successfully qualifying habits.
 

Also, I was a little unsure of your saying “The idea is to reduce your overall average daily consumption at these times.”.  This may be where I’m failing to understand! Because, unlike your starting premise (I think?), I feel the incentive is not so much about reducing overall daily consumption (though that’s always nice!) but rather about reducing consumption in the key 4-7 slot as a percentage of overall daily usage. If it’s already reduced for some lucky people without even “trying” for the incentive, then great for them, they’ve already hit the target without having to reduce anything, and the rest of us have to try to achieve the same aim by reducing our own 4-7 usage and hopefully emulate the successful folk’s behaviour. 
 

One thing’s for sure, you and I, as I should think goes for most people on this forum, agree most definitely on attempting to reduce our peak usage especially, as you say there is an ever growing need for all of us to do that, and indeed wherever possible our overall usage as well, so keep up the good work is what I say!

Hi again, I must say I'm enjoying this debate which is refreshingly intelligent and not full of the usual insults so common on these type of forums.

Let me try and explain what I read into this scheme. It is not intended to reduce your overall daily usage, but to encourage shifting high usage away from the peak period. So if you usually do the cooking, ironing etc between 4-7 and switch these tasks to before or after these times then you may benefit from the scheme.

But, here's the rub, some people like retirees are at home all day and may already carry out high consumption tasks outside of the peak period and their 4-7 usage is very low anyway. This section of users won't benefit at all as there is very little consumption to move to other times of the day.

It's a misconception to think that if you're doing it anyway you qualify for the discount - you don't.

Only those who are seen to be making tangible changes to their usual consumption  habits are going to benefit.

Another group that unfortunately can't participate are those who don't have Smart meters as this is the way the scheme is monitored.

Hope I've made myself a little clearer. Nice to chat with you.  Ian.

Sorry, but this isn’t right. It’s what I, too, expected, so I was a bit surprised when I discovered the way it actually works. The system makes no ‘before and after’ comparison. It simply looks at your consumption in the target period - 4-7PM on weekdays - and compares it to the total weekday consumption for the month. If the result is less than the target, you get the reward. It was made even easier for people like you and me for the Autumn challenge by increasing the threshold from summer’s 12.5% to 13.5%. 

There is a way of ‘gaming the system’, as you’ve probably read. You’ve already noted that the object of the exercise isn’t to reduce overall usage, but just to try to move usage away from the most critical period when the grid might struggle during the winter (this may also have the by-effect of reducing CO₂ emissions if it means that less power has to be generated by burning fossil fuels). But it only looks at weekdays, so for those who can’t quite reach the target despite cutting down consumption during the target period, another way of achieving it is by increasing consumption outside the target period. They can do this by moving power-hungry activities from weekends to weekdays. Again, there will be no reduction in total usage, but the chances of meeting the target are greater. 

This is of course against the spirit of the thing, but for those for whom a £15 reward would make a significant improvement to their finances, it’s worth doing while it’s possible. I won’t be surprised if OVO take measures to close this loophole at some stage, but it may require a lot more computation than they’re prepared to undertake.