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F.A.Q.

Power Move Plus - Frequently Asked Questions

  • 25 October 2023
  • 64 replies
  • 2197 views
Power Move Plus - Frequently Asked Questions

Want to know more about Power Move Plus?

 

Take part in Power Move Plus events and earn even more rewards for shifting electricity to greener times of the day. 

 

What is Power Move Plus?

 

This winter, OVO is offering customers even more chances to save. We’re taking part in the Electricity Systems Operator (ESO)’s Demand Flexibility Service to help customers reduce their bills this winter and reduce demand on the grid at peak times.
 

How does Power Move Plus work?

 

Power Move Plus is a series of events where you can earn credit towards your energy bill by moving your electricity usage out of times when there is the highest demand on the UK’s electricity grid (usually weekdays between 4-7pm). 

For each Power Move Plus event we’ll email you to let you know:

  • the times when there is the highest demand for electricity. You’ll need to shift your electricity usage out of these times.
  • your personal electricity use target for that period. You’ll need to use less electricity than this during the event.  

 

How will I earn credit with Power Move Plus?

 

We’ll reward you with energy credit for every kWh of electricity usage you shift below your target. The amount you can earn will vary per event and you’ll be told what the value of each kWh is in your email before you opt in. You’ll need to opt in to each event.

 

If a Power Move Plus event and a Power Move event take place at the same time then, you’ll be eligible for credit for both Power Move and Power Move Plus.

 

Remember - if you’re already shifting your electricity usage out of 4-7pm as part of Power Move, you’ll earn more by also opting in to Power Move Plus. 

 

How much reward will I receive?

 

The amount of the reward you’ll receive will depend on the level of demand on the grid and how much non-essential electricity you can shift. You can opt in to as many events as you want to.

 

If you don’t reduce your usage below your target then you won’t receive a reward for that event, even if you’ve opted in to it.

 

Each month the bill credits you receive through these rewards will vary depending on:

  • The number of Power Move Plus events you’ve opted in to 
  • The reward value of the events you’ve opted in to
  • If you’ve reduced your electricity usage below your target 

For example: We’re offering £2.40 per kWh of electricity shifted. If you have a personal target of 3kWh and reduce your usage to 2kWh, you’ve shifted 1kWh you’ll make a saving of £2.40 for that event. 

 

How can I get involved?

 

We’ll invite eligible customers this winter to sign up to Power Move Plus - keep an eye on your emails. 

 

To be eligible, you’ll need to have a smart meter, be a pay monthly or on demand customer and, opt in to half hourly meter reads and email marketing consent. You can update your meter read or marketing preference via your online account. Terms apply to Power Move Plus- see here for details. Please note that our Power Move Plus events are available to limited numbers of customers at the moment and are available on a first come, first served basis but we’re working to open the events up to more customers.

 

Do I need to opt in to each event?

 

You can choose which events to opt in to. Sometimes it might not be possible to shift your usage to meet your target. If that’s the case then you don’t need to take part in that event. If you do want to take part, then you’ll need to opt in to each individual event.

 

If you don’t opt in you won’t receive a reward for that event even if you hit your personal target.

 

How do I shift my energy usage to hit the target?

 

The best way to shift your electricity usage is to use power-intensive appliances, like washing machines and dishwashers outside of event times. Power Move Plus is all about using your electricity usage at different times - so your overall usage shouldn’t change. You’ll earn bill credit based on how much electricity you managed to shift.

 

It’s a great way to rely less on fossil fuels – while reducing your energy bills. And if we all make small changes to our energy use together, we’ll make a bigger difference to our collective carbon footprint. A big step on the Path to Zero!

 

How does Power Move Plus work with Power Move?

 

We’re offering customers even more chances to be rewarded. You can take part in both Power Move and Power Move Plus to supercharge your savings this winter. 

 

With Power Move, we challenge you to shift your non-essential electricity use to times when the grid is greenest. We set new challenges with different monthly targets every three months, and at the end we reward you with energy credit for hitting the target. 

 

Power Move Plus offers you even more chances to be rewarded, with shorter, one off events. You’ll receive a personal target with each Power Move Plus event and be rewarded based on how much electricity you shift below the target.

 

Why am I being rewarded for shifting my usage out of a high price time period?

 

When everyone’s using power, and demand on the UK’s energy grid is high, there’s less renewable power (such as solar or wind) to go around. This means dirty fossil fuel generators need to be switched on to fill the gap to keep the lights on in the UK.

 

By shifting your non-essential electricity use away from peak times, you’re reducing the demand on the grid and our dependence on fossil fuels. You’ll be using electricity at times where the grid is likely to be greener.

 

Want to find out more? Head over to our website for Frequently Asked Questions

 

We want to hear from you! 

 

We’d love to hear from those that are taking part in Power Move Plus. Leave a comment below to tell us if you’re part of the scheme. What approach will you take to hit the target?  

 

Thanks,
The OVO team


 

My power move plus target for 17th January was 0.2kwh. Just received email saying I didn't achieve it. Yet from the app 5.30pm was 0.07kwh and 6pm was 0.11kwh. How is that more than 0.2kwh?

How do I query this?
 

Two points:

  • The app only shows you usage to two places of decimals, while the actual data are recorded with three decimals. That means your actual consumption for the hour could have been anything between 0.17 and 0.19 kWh.
  • You are rewarded for the difference between the target (0.2) and your actual usage (perhaps 0.19).
    0.2 - 0.19 = 0.01 kWh shifted, earning a reward of 0.01 x £3 = 3p.
    If you actually shifted 0.17 kWh - if the rounding had gone the other way -  you would have earned 9p. 

I initially thought that there might be a minimum for the reward earned, of say 10p - anything below that just went into the blind box. But that’s probably not the case, because I earned 6p for one of November’s events. Nevertheless, it would probably cost you a lot more than 6p to make a fuss about not getting it 😉

 

The Wi-Fi Router takes up barely anything, possibly £1 a year at most. 

 

My modem/router draws about 15 watts. If it is on all day every day, that comes to 15 x 24 x 365 / 1000 ≈ 130 KWh/year. At 29p/KWh, that is nearly 40 times what you say it will cost.

My Internet connection drops out every night at about ten minutes after midnight. The only way to get it back is to restart the modem/router. I think it is because the cleaning lady has to plug in her hoover when she gets to the server room.

This daily exercise has not affected the speed of my connection. 

It does when you have ADSL or FTTC - ANY copper on the line at all can trigger this behaviour.

And besides, if I can hit 0.1kWh PMP targets despite having:

  1. DrayTek Vigor 130
  2. Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Machine Base
  3. Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 8 PoE
  4. 2x Ubiquiti UniFi Switch 8 60W
  5. Ubiquiti UniFi U6-LR
  6. Ubiquiti UniFi nanoHD
  7. Ubiquiti UniFi AC-Lite

Running 24x7x365… Then I must be doing something right. And yet I still have bills of at most £50 a month for my entire flat at 28p/kWh

Certainly not going down the road of flipping the isolator switch off and on to get a £1 back! This is the 21st century when our various governments should have already invested in out energy infrastructure to give us energy security, so we do not need to play these games.

@Firedog it's the first time of having a 0.2kwh target too, normally 0.1kwh. Just annoying being a low user. I sat in the dark and power napped🤣, but forgot to turn my heating off so that clicked in without me realising, hence the increase on 2nd half hr.

So I understand Power Move.

 

But for Power Move Plus, I have to use less than 0.2kWh between 5h30 and 6h30. For Ovo calculations, this is a 1.5 hour period. Is it 0.2kWh average during that time, or totalled all-together?

 

If it’s totalled all-together, then it seems pretty hard to do. Any advice on what I can do to further lower my usage during that time, other than not being home?

 

It also says I can earn £3 for every kWh I shift below my target. So what does that mean, if I can somehow shift my usage to 0.15kWh? How much would I earn?

5h30 to 6h30 is 1 hour. You can take whatever power you like for a short time. It's only power (kW) X time (hours) which matters. So for instance, if you take 2kW for 5 mins (eg a kettle), then the energy consumed is 2kW X 1/12 hour = 0.167kWh.

0.15kWh is only 0.05kWh below target, so multiply X £3 = 15p - a big rebate ;-)

 

Tony 

 

It’s for the whole period specified - 

5.30 to 6.30 is a one hour period - so you would need to use less than 0.2 kwh in that hour - 

If it was 5.30 to 7.00 pm then the target would be for that 1 ½ hours.

 

Such a low target is difficult to achieve significant savings , especially if you are already participating in Power Move where you would have already shifted major consumption outside the 4 to 7 pm period .

 

(For example I had the same target as you for the last Power Move plus and managed to reduce my consumption to 0.11 kwh for this hour -  that means the saving (0.2 - 0.11)  was 0.09 Kwh

That 0.09 saving is then rewarded at the rate of £3 per kwh  - so I got 27p

 

So as you reduced yours to 0.15 kwh then the saving was 0.2 - 0.15 = 0.05kwh

multiply that by the £3 rate and you get 15p

 

The target for Power Move Plus is determined by your average use during these hours for the last 10 weekdays - so if you are already using little due to Power move then there isn’t much to be gained by trying to save even more - 

 

The only realistic way (i.e not turning absolutely everything off) to achieve larger rewards for Power Move Plus is to use more during the evening hours on non Power move days to increase your average and then you will get a higher target which is easier to achieve - but that then conflicts with Power Move as you will be consuming more during the evening when you want to be keeping consumption down -  and you could compromise your Power Move performance.

My personal opinion is that , although both Power Move and Power Move Plus can be participated in at the same time - there is some conflict - so it’s up to you if you bother with Power Move Plus as well as Power Move as the extra effort involved probably isn’t worth it and the benefit isn’t that great to the grid, Ovo or yourself.

 

My understanding is that Power Move Plus is a National Grid project to reduce demand on the Grid at peak times (i,e not an Ovo initiative) 

Power Move however is an Ovo initiative to encourage users to shift consumption to times of the day when the cost to Ovo of each unit of electricity is signficantly lower .

(Essentially to enable savings for Ovo as they pay less for the power if you use it at non-peak times - then they distribute some of these savings as rewards to those who have participated)

I don’t know the details of the generator to distributor pricing so I am making some assumptions here!

 

The DFS scheme (called Power Move Plus at OVO) is a national scheme meant to try and cut (not shift) high electricity use at targeted times when the national grid is in danger of reaching full capacity and overloading.
That’s why it’s ‘events’ are always random and at short notice.

For those of us with low use, and so low targets, it’s probably not worth the bother for a few pennies reward.

With a £3/kWh reward then cutting 0.05 kWh for a PM+ event would give you 0.05 x £3 = 15p.

You need to be a higher user and so have a higher personal target to be able to cut a couple of kWh and make it worthwhile. (Worthwhile for both the grid and for you).

Power Move (not Plus) with it’s percentage targets is more achievable for us lower electricity users.
Power Move is about shifting your useage long term, rather than just cutting it in a few ‘emergency’ periods.

(I’ve had the £15 for every Power Move month that I’ve done, but all of my PM+ targets have been just 0.1kWh so I haven’t even bothered with any of those).

Thanks for explaining!

Is the power move an average for the month?

 

  

Is the power move an average for the month?

 

Yes. Your result for the month is (total of 4-7 PM usage on all weekdays)/(total of all weekday usage), which gives you the average for the month. OVO Energy | Power Move FAQs

So even though you fail to meet the target on some days, you can still meet it for the month if you manage to shift more on other days.

Hi @Tim a victim ,

 

@Firedog has given you the right calculation but this is actually an aggregate figure for all the qualifying days in the month not an average.

  

… this is actually an aggregate figure … not an average.
 

That rather depends on what you mean by those terms. I would suggest that if the result for any weekday is the ratio between eusage 4-7] and 7total usage], then the ratio between the aggregate of gusage 4-7] and the aggregate of gtotal usage] represents the average result for all days.

 

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