CrowdFlex FAQs

OVO are 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. What we learn from being part of these trials will be essential for the ESO to plan for the future of the electricity grid and how our customers can play a vital role in this.

You can take part in CrowdFlex through taking part in Power Move Flex. When you sign up to Power Move Flex, you’ll receive email notifications letting you know if there’s either low or high demand on the grid and what you’ll need to do. Read the CrowdFlex Terms and Conditions.

OVO are rewarding customers for simply shifting non-essential electricity usage consumption out of times when demand is higher or into times when demand is lower.

Power Move Flex is a series of events that can earn you credit when you shift your energy use to greener times of the day.

When you sign up to Power Move Flex, you’ll get email notifications letting you know if there’s either low or high demand on the grid and what action to take. You’ll be participating in either Power Up events (when there’s low demand on the grid) or Power Down events (when there’s high demand on the grid).

You’ll need to shift your electricity usage either into a specific time period (due to low demand) or out of a specific time period (due to high demand). You’ll be rewarded for any electricity you use either above or below what you’d usually use (personal target).

Our electricity grid is becoming greener with renewable generation such as wind and solar being added to the system. 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 helps match the demand to the power being generated. So your home uses more cleaner, greener energy.

It also allows customers to save on their bills, and helps support the UK transition to zero carbon emissions.

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, more or less carbon is released, depending on what time you use the energy?

At peak times of the day, typically around 7pm, there are high levels of demand on the energy grid. But renewable energy sources like wind and solar power can sometimes be unpredictable. So this demand on the grid doesn’t always match how much renewable power is being generated. And when there’s not enough to go around, dirtier, carbon-heavy fossil fuel gets used to fill the gap.

This is when we Power Down - helping the country avoid having to top up with fossil fuels.

Equally, if there are times when there’s 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.

Yes, Power Move Flex is free to join. You can choose to take part in as many or as few as you want. There is no penalty for not taking part in a Power Up or Power Down event.

Power Move Flex is currently available to customers as part of the CrowdFlex trial. We’ll be inviting eligible customers to sign up to Power Move Flex (and CrowdFlex Trial One) from April 2024. Please note that places are limited as part of the Trial One. By signing up to Trial One your place won’t be guaranteed. We’ll let you know if you successfully make it onto the trial.

Trial One 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 CrowdFlex trials over the next 18 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 admittance into the trial isn’t always guaranteed.

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

For each Power Up and Power Down event, you’ll need to shift your electricity usage either into a specific time period or out of one.

For a Power Up event, you’ll need to shift your typical day to day usage 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 such as Power Move or Charge Anytime. 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.

For Charge Anytime customers, we'll automatically use your EV to either Power Up or Power Down. But we may not do this for every event if it conflicts with your charging schedules. Please refer to Charge Anytime Terms and Conditions.

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.

There is no penalty for turning up during a Power Down event, or turning down during a Power Up 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!

We’ll only be notifying you via emails for Power Move Flex events – so 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 usage you can shift (to either above or below the target). 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 usage to above your personal target, we'll reward you with energy credit for every kWh of electricity usage 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 usage to below your personal target for each event, we’ll reward you with energy credit for every kWh of electricity usage 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 all your 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 unable to measure how much you’ve used during this time window.

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.

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

Please see our just in time notice for more details.

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 18 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.

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.

We don't receive readings on the hour or half hour from the meter. We receive readings in bulk at the end of each day which has each reading timestamped.

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.

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.