Energy supplier OVO energy has confirmed its customers shifted 164,179kWh of energy out of peak times via its “Power Move” scheme.
In shifting this energy to times with cheaper and greener energy, customers saved almost £150,000 over the winter period. In terms of carbon saving, December achieved the highest savings with a total of five tonnes.
The scheme, which rewarded customers £20 per month, had been running as a trial to gather data to develop the company’s understanding of usage during peak times, helping OVO to create further propositions that support a greener and more resilient energy system. It ran from 1 November 2022 to 31 March 2023.
The trial rewarded customers up to £100 in total for moving non-essential energy use to times when the grid was, on average, greener and less congested. Using customer data, OVO determined that between 4pm – 7pm on weekdays is usually when demand on the energy grid is usually the highest.
“Flexibility must form part of the UK’s energy security plan, shielding us from the damaging effects of continued dependence on fossil fuels,” said Mat Moakes, chief commercial officer of OVO Energy.
“This trial has rewarded customers for using energy at greener times and decongesting the grid as a result. We have a responsibility as industry and government to support households with energy efficiency measures, now and in the future.”
The scheme ran alongside the demand flexibility service (DFS) scheme which recently ended.
Octopus Energy’s results for its DFS scheme “Saving Sessions” saw its customers collectively shift 1.86GWh of electricity throughout the 13 trials. British Gas’ scheme saw customers paid over £1.8 million since December 2022, due to saving a total of 147MWh of energy.