Octopus Free Power Hours

[nowty]

Well, someone from Octopus replied. Not sure that I'm "buying" their explanation though.

I think a summary of their reply is "tough".

[Stinsy]

The screw really is turning against us. On a number of fronts!

Saving sessions are now a joke, all that effort was fun when you got a few pounds, but now it is a few pence. What’s the point? The power hours were supposed to be a way to deal with excess renewable generation, instead of paying Dale Vince billions to turn off his wind turbines, they incentivise consumers to use it. Brilliant idea IMO. And us battery-owners are best placed to do so. But no, it is now “EV charging only”.

[Yuff]

The screw really is turning against us. On a number of fronts!

Saving sessions are now a joke, all that effort was fun when you got a few pounds, but now it is a few pence. What’s the point? The power hours were supposed to be a way to deal with excess renewable generation, instead of paying Dale Vince billions to turn off his wind turbines, they incentivise consumers to use it. Brilliant idea IMO. And us battery-owners are best placed to do so. But no, it is now “EV charging only”.

I think there needs to be a balance between paying customers ie us and turbine owners/gas power stations.
2 years ago some of us were earning £100 in a 1 1/2 hour saving session, now it’s £1, whereas the big power stations are getting £12m for a 3 hour window……it just doesn’t seem right plus where is our incentive to inconvenience ourselves to help the grid out in an emergency.
A lot of customers are being stitched up by the greed of big companies and our government continues to let this happen. We know something could be done but they choose not to.
When I look at our savings, not taking into the capex spent etc, we are saving a lot on home energy use and car usage mainly because I find it interesting and it keeps me out of mischief. But there us a bit of inconvenience having electric cars when using public chargers, which I try to avoid like the plague, although the Tesla free 1 year charging us handy on the model Y.

[AE-NMidlands]

Saving sessions are now a joke, all that effort was fun when you got a few pounds, but now it is a few pence. What’s the point? The power hours were supposed to be a way to deal with excess renewable generation, instead of paying Dale Vince billions to turn off his wind turbines, they incentivise consumers to use it. Brilliant idea IMO. And us battery-owners are best placed to do so. But no, it is now “EV charging only”.

It's not only EV people, I got

You're already in and you don't need to sign up again. Just keep an eye on your inbox and we'll let you know when it's time to fill your boots!

It will be interesting to see how and when (or if) it works: I wonder whether they will be at times when my battery is already full and I am dumping power to the grid anyway?

[Richard77]

Power hour for me tomorrow 2pm-3pm (Merseyside)

[Joeboy]

Thanks for the heads up Richard, we, are having up here too.



Had a read, have to remember to plug in the EV to qualify.

[Richard77]

Thanks for the heads up Richard, we, are having up here too.



Had a read, have to remember to plug in the EV to qualify.

Looks likes it only free EV charging ... And not for the whole house (if on intelligent octopus go) so... 7p x 6.5kW (max car charge ish). 45.5p saved

[Stinsy]

Thanks for the heads up Richard, we, are having up here too.



Had a read, have to remember to plug in the EV to qualify.

Looks likes it only free EV charging ... And not for the whole house (if on intelligent octopus go) so... 7p x 6.5kW (max car charge ish). 45.5p saved

Where is the fun in that? And if there is excess electric on the grid why does it matter if it goes in your car or runs your dishwasher?

[AE-NMidlands]

Looks likes it only free EV charging ... And not for the whole house (if on intelligent octopus go) so... 7p x 6.5kW (max car charge ish). 45.5p saved

I'm not on anything "Go" but I am in:

There’s plenty of green power in the wires tomorrow, and you know what that means…
Free Electricity Session 2-3pm, Sunday 22nd June!
Get ready to fill your boots
Plan to shift any electricified activity into that hour, be it hoovering, laundry, blending up an icy beverage or, realistically, sitting in front of a fan. Whatever you're doing, FILL YOUR BOOTS. The power you'd normally use costs the same. Any extra you use will be free!

You're already signed up, so you don’t need to opt in again.

p.s. also says

Is this the same as Power-ups?
No. Whilst Power-ups is only available in particular areas, Free Electricity Sessions run nationally, and they're open to all Octoplus customers. So if you live in a Power-up area, you're super lucky to be able to take part in both!
If a Power-up and a Free Electricity Session coincide, you'll only get credited for the Power-up (the more valuable reward).

[jonc_uk]

IMHO not worth the bother of plugging in, setting charge level, unsetting afterwards etc.