Power Move Flex FAQs

OVO is participating in CrowdFlex, a trial designed to shape the future of the electricity grid. We’ve teamed up with industry experts including the Electricity Systems Operator (ESO), Centre for Net Zero, Centre for Sustainable Energy, ERM (Environmental Resources Management), Octopus Energy, Ohme Technology, National Grid Electricity Distribution, Scottish and Southern Energy Networks, and Smiths Institute.

CrowdFlex is a series of trials running from 1 May 2024 until December 2025 aimed at understanding how households can contribute to a greener electricity grid. Trial 1 ended in July 2024. Trial 2 will take place from September 2024 to March 2025.

You can take part in CrowdFlex through taking part in Power Move Flex.

OVO is rewarding customers for shifting non-essential electricity use out of times when demand is higher, or into times when demand is lower. Or for plugging in their EV to their EV charger, to be used to help provide flexibility to the grid.

When you sign up to Power Move Flex, we’ll let you know what action to take and how you’ll be rewarded.  You’ll be taking part in either: 

Power Up events (when there’s low demand on the grid) and Power Down events (when there’s high demand on the grid)

OR

Charge Anytime for Power Move Flex - where OVO optimises your EV charging to provide flexibility to the grid in times of high or low demand, through Charge Anytime.

Our electricity grid is becoming greener, with more renewable electricity like wind and solar being used to power the UK. But renewable generation can be intermittent, and with everyone using electricity at similar times, there’ll be times of high demand. We need energy flexibility to make sure our electricity system is running a clean and green system - reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.

Energy flexibility aims to balance the energy supply and demand for the whole of the UK. It also allows customers to save on their bills and help the UK transition to zero carbon emissions.

By shifting your non-essential electricity use away from peak times, shifting use into specified times, or making your EV available via your EV charger, 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.

Generating green energy releases less carbon into the atmosphere than burning fossil fuels. But did you know that even if you’re on a greener energy plan, you can still help to cut carbon emissions depending on what time you use your energy?

Here’s why: When it’s windy or sunny, renewable power is pumped into the energy grid and used in homes across the UK. But if we need more energy than the wind or sun can give us, we have to top up with dirty, fossil fuel power.

There are times when many of us are using energy at the same time, like at 7pm when we’re home from work, cooking dinner or playing video games. At those peak times, we’ll likely need to top-up the system with fossil fuel energy. It’s better for the planet to shift our non-essential energy use away from peak times, even if we’re on a green plan. This is when we Power Down - helping the country avoid having to top up with fossil fuels.

Equally, if there are times of extra renewable energy on the grid, it’s good for the country to use electricity at these times. This is when we’d Power Up - shifting our day to day activities into these times.

Power Move Flex will be running from May 2024 until December 2025, made up of a series of trials. Trial 1 ended in July 2024. Trial 2 will take place from September 2024 to March 2025.

Yes, Power Move Flex is free to join.

We’ll be inviting eligible customers to sign up to Trial 2 from August 2024. Please note that places are limited as part of the trial. By signing up to this trial your place won’t be guaranteed. We’ll let you know if you successfully make it onto the trial.

This trial has a limited number of places, therefore not all customers who sign up to the trial will get a place. When you sign up, you'll form part of a waitlist and we’ll be randomly selecting customers to join the trial. We’ll let you know if you’ve successfully joined the trial or not.

Remember - there’ll be more Power Move Flex trials over the next 14 months - so if you’re not successful this time, you’ll have another chance.

This project is looking at customer’s ability to take part in energy flexibility. To measure the true impact of the trial, we’ll need to compare customers taking part against a control group.

This’ll make sure our results are more accurate and reliable, and we’ll learn more from the trial than we would without one. You’ll still be contributing to the trial by being part of the control group.

There’s no further action required from any customers in the control group. We’ll be inviting customers to join future trials as part of the project, but a place on the trial isn’t always guaranteed.

If you move home during the trial, we’ll be unable to sign you back up to the CrowdFlex trial. Remember - there’ll be more CrowdFlex trials over the next 14 months - so you’ll have another chance to sign up to new trials.

You won’t be able to continue with the trial and Power Move Flex if you switch suppliers. We need to continuously monitor your electricity use and won’t be able to do this if you switch.

All aggregated and anonymised data will be stored by ESO which may be shared with third parties in future. For more information please see ESO’s privacy policy.

We may share your contact details (name and email address) with our trusted third-party research agency partners, as mentioned in our Privacy Policy. This is so they can contact you for feedback on your experience of Power Move Flex. This includes third-parties as part of the CrowdFlex project partners. Your data won’t be used for marketing purposes unless you’ve opted in to receive marketing from us.

Charge Anytime customers - We’ll share your data in accordance with the Charge Anytime terms and conditions including but not limited to:

OVO to share your data (your email address, electricity rates, electricity MPAN and OVO ID) with Kaluza to notify them that you are a Charge Anytime customer and to allow them to provide smart charging services;

OVO to share your data (MPAN, name, email address) with Ohme.

Customers who completed their pre-trial survey will receive a £5 credit to their OVO energy account. The final date to complete the survey will be 25 November, and credit will be applied to your account in December.

By opting out of Power Move Flex, you’ll opt out of the CrowdFlex trial. You’ll be given the option to opt out of all CrowdFlex related emails & stop sharing your data, or whether you’re happy to continue sharing your data as part of the project.

If you have any more questions about Power Move Flex please get in touch with us by calling us on 0330 303 5063 to chat with one of our team.

When you sign up to Power Move Flex, and its Power Up and Power Down events, you’ll receive notifications letting you know if there’s either low or high demand on the grid and the action we need you to take.

For a Power Up event, you’ll need to shift your typical day to day energy use into the time window specified. You’ll be rewarded for anything you use above your normal usage within that time.

For a Power Down event you’ll need to reduce the amount of non-essential electricity you use to below your normal usage by shifting it to another time, when the grid is greener. If you do this you’ll get a reward for that event.

We want you to move your non-essential electricity use to a time that’s convenient and safe, so please don’t leave washing machines, tumble dryers or dishwashers running overnight, or when you’re out. You can find out more about electrical safety here.

Power Up and Power Down events are in addition to other energy flexibility schemes at OVO like Power Move. They allow you to unlock more savings off your energy bill by shifting your electricity use either into low demand times or out of high demand times.

You can sign up to Power Move Flex alongside Power Move, either taking part in both schemes or only in one. Any credit earned from Power Move Flex will be in addition to any monthly credit earned for a specific Power Move challenge.

We’ll let you know for each event whether you need to shift your electricity usage into or out of the time window.

By opting into Power Move Flex, you’ll be automatically opted in to receive all events. If you don’t wish to take part in a specific event, you don’t have to take any action. There’ll be no penalty for not taking part and there’s no obligation to take part in the event, but you’ll still receive email notifications with the output of the event.

As part of the trial, you’ll be receiving multiple notifications per week. This number can vary but keep an eye on your emails!

The amount of the reward you’ll receive will depend on your personal target for that event, and how much electricity use you can shift. We’re testing different prices with different customers - so some customers will receive more or less than others (depending on what group you’re in).

For a Power Up event - if you’re able to increase your electricity use to above your personal target, we'll reward you with energy credit for every kWh of electricity use you shift above your target. This price will vary per event and you’ll be told what the value is in your email. This’ll be paid to you in the form of credit to your bill.

For a Power Down event - if you're able to reduce your electricity use to below your personal target for each event, we’ll reward you with energy credit for every kWh of electricity use you shift below your target. This price will vary per event and you’ll be told what the value is in your email. This’ll be paid to you in the form of credit to your bill.

If you don’t increase your electricity use, or decrease your electricity use, above or below your target (depending on the event type) then you won’t receive a reward for that event.

We’ll let you know at the end of each week how you’ve done, and you’ll be notified at the end of the month with your progress.

The reward is applied as credit directly to your bill. You’ll be credited each month with the sum of all rewards earned in the previous month. For example, for any rewards earned in May, you’ll receive an energy credit in June.

There’s no cash alternative. The energy credit will show as a separate line item on your bill.

We’ll let you know how you’ve done each week.

For a Power Up event, if you don’t use more electricity than above what you’d usually use then you won’t receive any credit.

For a Power Down event, if you haven’t reduced your electricity use below what you’d usually use - you won’t receive any credit.

Remember - there’s no penalty for not meeting the target for each event, and you have a chance to earn credit with every event.

You need to shift your typical day to day usage into this time slot. For example charging your laptop, putting on a load of washing or running your dishwasher. Power Up events are about shifting activities you would have done at another time into this specific time slot - not to use more than you usually would.

If you use more electricity than you usually would, you’ll still be charged for how much you use. And the increase in usage will likely be more than your credit earned.

We recommend you:

• Turn off plug sockets at the wall if a device isn’t being used
• Move your washing machine load to another time of day or another day
• Delay when you put your dishwasher on
• Saving the ironing to another time
• Turn off the TV at the wall if it’s not being used

Your Direct Debit won’t be affected by Power Move Flex rewards. We encourage you to not amend your Direct Debit as we can’t guarantee how regularly you’ll be receiving Power Up and Power Down credit and the savings you’ll make.

We understand that sometimes technical issues can happen that are beyond your control.

If your smart meter stops working during an event, you won’t receive any credit as we’re not able to measure how much you’ve used during this time window.

If we can’t get meter readings from your smart meter despite making all reasonable efforts to do so and this continues for more than 7 days, we reserve the right to remove you from Power Move Flex and the CrowdFlex trial.

Power Up and Power Down events are only measuring your electricity use, meaning you only need to reduce your electricity use to below your personal target on a nominated day or time period.

You’ll be able to opt out of receiving Power Up and Power Down events (and therefore the CrowdFlex trial) by pressing the opt out button on any Power Move Flex email you’ve received.

When you sign up to Power Move Flex for Charge Anytime, you’ll be rewarded for the time your EV is spent connected to your EV charger. The aim is for you to plug in as often and for as long as you can.

We’ll optimise your charging so your car is charged to the amount you set, at the ready-by-time you set. You won’t, however, be paid for the electricity shifted above or below what you’d usually use, if your charging is optimised in line with Power Up and Power Down events.

If you successfully plug in your EV to your charger, you may be rewarded with credit to your bill. But you won’t be paid for the electricity shifted above or below what you’d usually use, if your charging is optimised in line with Power Up and Power Down events.

As this is a trial, we’ll be testing different price incentives:

• Credit for the number of sessions your EV is plugged in.
• A fixed price per month for plugging in as often and for as long as you can.

The £0.07/kwh Charge Anytime rate is fixed and you will never be charged more per unit of energy that you use.

The only way it’ll cost you more for charging is if you drive more miles in your vehicle than you typically drive, meaning you need to recharge your EV by more.

If you charge using the Boost function, this will charge your EV at your normal electricity rate.

A plug in session is:

• Being plugged in for 3 hours, continually
• Our session counter runs from midday to midday
• Our reward counter runs midday Sunday to midday Sunday and will count sessions within each 7 day period.

You’ll receive a monthly summary of rewards earned for that month. You may receive weekly communications from us letting you know how you’re doing or reminders for you to plug in for the coming week.

If we’re unable to collect plug in data from your EV charger, for 3 days after the reward counter resets, you won’t be able to receive a reward as we won’t have the data we need to correctly calculate your plug in session.

You won’t be eligible to receive any reward for an event if you don’t plug in your EV.

We’ll optimise your charging in line with Power Up and Power Down events, and your vehicle will be charged to the amount you choose, by the ready-by-time you set.

As part of the smart charging function of Charge Anytime, we’ll charge when the grid is greenest. If you successfully plug in your EV to your charger, you may be rewarded with credit to your bill for how often and how long you’re able to plug in for.