Power Move FAQs

We want to reward our customers for taking positive actions to help reduce their carbon footprint. Power Move rewards you for shifting your home's electricity use out of peak times of the day or to greener times.

Power Move is a series of quarterly challenges that OVO will set based on what time of year it is, how the seasons affect energy use and the knock-on environmental impact. The target and reward value will change for each challenge.

Each Power Move challenge will have its own:

• Challenge type
• Monthly target levels
• Reward value (associated with reaching an individual level)
• Timeslot

The challenge is to either use as little non-essential electricity as possible during peak times (peak move) or use electricity at greener times (green move). And you'll be rewarded depending on what monthly target you reach.

Peak Move - For peak move challenges, we’ll ask you to shift your non-essential electricity use out of peak times. Peak times change throughout the year. During winter they’re between 4-7pm. In the summer months, we use energy slightly later - meaning the peak times are typically later. We’ll let you know before the Power Move challenge starts.

These targets will be a percentage that you need to reduce your peak time (e.g. 4pm to 7pm) electricity use to.

Green Move - For green move challenges, this target will be a target percentage of your daily energy use that you’ll need to shift to a greener time of day. For example, you might be challenged to shift 20% of your daily electricity use to between 5.30am and 7.30am.

You can decide which Power Move challenges you’d like to participate in. You can sign up to Power Move challenges at any time via your online account.

By signing up for your first Power Move challenge, you’ll be auto-enrolled into all future challenges unless you opt out. For example, if you’re signed up for the summer challenge, you’ll automatically join the autumn challenge and any future challenges.

You can opt-out at any time through your online account.

How we calculate rewards depends on whether we include weekends as off-peak. Check the challenge details to see if weekends are included.

Weekends included

Imagine your home uses 240 kilowatt hours (kWh) in 1 month and 12kWh during peak hours (6pm to 9pm, Monday to Friday).

Your peak use would be 5% for the month.

That’s because we divide the energy used during peak hours (12 kWh) by the total amount used (240 kWh) for the month.

Here's how we worked it out:

Peak use % = (12 kWh ÷ 240 kWh) x 100% = 5.00%

Weekends not included

Imagine your home uses 170 kilowatt hours (kWh) between Monday and Friday in one month and 12 kWh during peak hours (6pm to 9pm, Monday to Friday).

Your peak use would be 7.05% for that month.

That’s because we divide the energy used during peak hours (12 kWh) by the total amount used Monday to Friday (170 kWh) for the month.

Here's how we worked it out:

Peak use % = (12 kWh ÷ 170 kWh) x 100% = 7.05%

We may set the monthly target levels at:

• Level 1: 14.50% of your energy use, with a reward of £3
• Level 2: 13.00% of your energy use, with a reward of £5
• Level 3: 11.50% of your energy use, with a reward of £10

If you use 11.50% or less of your daily energy between 4pm and 7pm (in the winter months), you’d be in level 3 and earn the maximum reward per month. And if you use between 14.50% and 13.01%, you’d be at level 1, and earn a smaller reward. The level you’re in, and how much reward you get depends on what percentage you achieved that month.

We’ll round your peak percentage to 2 decimal places. For example, if you use 11.504%, it will be rounded down to 11.50%, and you’ll receive a £10 reward.

Weekends are less carbon-intensive for the UK’s energy grid* so there’s more chance to reduce our collective carbon footprint. So it’s a good time to avoid peak weekday hours.

Until the 1st June 2024, only energy used at off-peak times on weekdays has counted towards Power Move peak move challenges.

For some peak move challenges, the energy you use on the weekends will count towards off-peak, meaning there will be more ways to reach your Power Move target. The monthly targets will look a little tougher, but it’ll be easier to lower the energy you use at peak times.

We’ll let you know before each challenge whether this is the case.

*based on the average carbon intensity - https://carbonintensity.org.uk/

Some months, like August, have more weekend days than others. And since weekend energy use isn’t peak time (peak times are Monday to Friday either 4-7pm or 6-9pm), that could help bring down your average peak time use.

It might also mean the mid-month update shows you’re a little over or under your target, depending on when the weekends fall in that month.

You won’t be eligible for a reward if you don’t meet one of the specific monthly target Levels for that Power Move challenge. You don’t have to hit one of the monthly targets every month of a challenge to get credit. 

You’ll be credited each month that you hit one of the monthly target Levels. So there may be some months you get credit and some you don’t.

When everyone uses power, and demand for the UK’s energy grid is high, there’s less renewable power (such as solar or wind). Dirty fossil fuel generators need to be switched on to fill the gap and keep the UK powered. By shifting your non-essential electricity use away from peak times or shifting use into specified times, you’re reducing the demand on the grid and our dependence on fossil fuels. You’ll be using electricity when 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, more or less carbon is released, depending on what time you use the 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, it's more likely we'll 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 helps the country avoid having to top up with fossil fuels.

The typical household uses around 18% of their daily use from 4pm to 7pm during winter months and 16% of their daily use from 6pm to 9pm in Summer green months*. Here are a few ways to shift your home’s electricity use out of peak times:

• Cook before or after peak times
• Cook in batches at the weekend and re-heat during the week
• Turn off all your plug sockets at the wall if a device isn’t being used
• Move your washing machine loads to another time of day, or to the weekend
• Put your dishwasher on before or after peak times 
• Only switch on the lights that you need
• Turn off the TV at the wall if it’s not being used
• Charge any devices before peak times
• Use energy-saving light bulbs

*We have analysed customer data to determine that between these times (winter and summer) is when demand on the energy grid is highest.

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.

• Move your washing machine loads to the specified time
• Put your dishwasher on during the specified time
• Charge any devices you may need at different times of the day
• Use any electric showers during the specified time

We receive readings in bulk at the end of each day, and each reading is timestamped.

No, we only measure your electricity use in half hourly slots, from the beginning of the Power Move time slot until 30 minutes before the end of the time slot. For example, if the challenge time slot was 4pm to 7pm then we’d count your energy use using the 4pm to 6.30pm half hourly slots. Any electricity used in the 7pm half hourly slot would not be counted towards your 'peak' electricity consumption.

Power Move is only measuring your electricity use.

Power Move is available to all OVO customers who meet the following criteria:

• be a new or existing OVO customer
• have a communicating electricity smart meter 
• have a credit meter
• have a single rate meter (meaning you only pay a single, flat rate for your electricity) or economy-7 meter
• opt in to half-hourly meter readings (you can opt in to half-hourly readings via your online account)
• have an active email address
• have OVO as your energy provider

Unfortunately not all meter types are compatible with Power Move. You won’t be able to sign up to Power Move if your meter type is incompatible.

Your energy use won’t count on English bank holidays – so any electricity you use during the specified challenge time slot won’t count towards your monthly use.

You must meet all the eligibility criteria for Power Move at any point.  If at any time you fail to meet the Eligibility Criteria, for example by not opting in to half hourly meter reads or each individual Power Move challenge, then we reserve the right to end your participation and you won’t receive the monthly energy credit.

You’ll need to opt into each quarterly challenge and you’ll be given the details of each challenge at the point of sign up. In order to get rewarded each month, you must meet the challenge target. This will be determined by looking at your electricity use over the course of the month.

For example, if the challenge is to reduce your peak non-essential electricity use to 12.50% or less of your daily total, and your average peak percentage is 12.30%, you’ll receive a credit.

This credit will be specified by the Individual Power Move Challenge rules and applied onto your next month’s electricity bill. So you’ll see June’s credit on your July bill.

You’ll only be credited for each month that you hit the specified challenge target. If you fail to meet the target, you won’t be rewarded.

Each month your target resets and you’ll have another opportunity to hit the target and be rewarded.

We’ll send you all updates via email. These will be:

a) A mid-month email - outlining whether you’re on track to hit the target. You’ll not receive this email if you sign up to Power Move part way through a month.

b) An end-of month email - outlining whether you were successful or not in hitting the Power Move target for the previous month.

You need to have a working smart meter that’s connected to the internet and communicating.

We understand that sometimes technical issues can happen that are beyond your control. If we aren’t receiving 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.

As long as you stay with OVO Energy, you’ll be able to opt back in to Power Move with your new account details. You can do this at any point during the challenge. Your reward for the first month will be pro rata to the date you opted in.

If you switch away at any point while you’re in a Power Move challenge, you won’t be eligible to receive the energy credit each month. You’ll find further information about switching away from OVO in our Core Terms.

You can opt out of Power Move at any time by pressing the opt out button on any Power Move email you’ve received, or via your online account. You can rejoin Power Move at any time via your online account.

If you have any more questions about Power Move, please visit Power Move or contact us.