CrowdFlex Terms and Conditions

Terms and conditions (specific to CrowdFlex) and supplementary to the Power Move Flex T&Cs

1. About these Terms

These terms and conditions (the Terms) apply to trial 2 of the CrowdFlex project (Trial 1, Trial 2, the Trial). Please read these Terms carefully. These Terms are in addition to, and do not replace, the ‘Power Move Flex’ (Power Move Flex) terms and conditions, our Core Energy Supply Terms and Conditions (Core Terms) or any other terms which may apply to your OVO plan.

All defined terms in the Core Terms will have the same meaning when used in these terms, unless otherwise stated.

Trial 1 ended in July 2024. Trial 2 will take place from September 2024 to March 2025. By signing up to Trial 2 you agree to be bound by these Terms.

2. About CrowdFlex

2.1 OVO is taking part in CrowdFlex, an OFGEM funded project, running a series of trials from May 2024 until December 2025. The trials are aimed at understanding how households can contribute to a greener electricity grid (CrowdFlex). The learnings we gather from being part of these trials will be essential for the Electricity System Operator to plan for the future of the electricity grid, and how our customers can play a role in this. Trial 1 was the first of these trials, and was run in collaboration with third parties including the Electricity Systems Operator (ESO), Southern Electric Power Distribution, Centre for Net Zero, Centre for Sustainable Energy, ERM (Environmental Resources Management), Amazon Web Services, Octopus Energy, Ohme Operations UK, National Grid Electricity Distribution (South West), and Smith Institute.

Trial 2 is the second part of these trials, and is run in collaboration with third parties including the Electricity Systems Operator (ESO), Southern Electric Power Distribution, Centre for Net Zero, Centre for Sustainable Energy, ERM (Environmental Resources Management), Amazon Web Services, Ohme Operations UK, National Grid Electricity Distribution (South West), and Smith Institute.

3. About Trial 2

3.1 Trial 2 will run from 16 September 2024 to 31 March 2025 (the Trial Period) and will involve eligible customers selected for the Trial signing up to Power Move Flex. Power Move Flex rewards customers for simply shifting non-essential electricity usage out of times when demand is higher, or into times when demand is lower. Or plugging in their EV to their EV charger, to be used to help provide flexibility to the grid.

For more details about Power Move Flex see ovoenergy.com/power-move-flex.

Power Up and Power Down Events

3.2 Power Up and Power Down events are decided by the ESO rather than by OVO. We’ll let you know by email up to 48 hours before an event is due to take place. As the events are controlled by ESO we’re unable to confirm the number of events or the reward value of these events in advance. Please note that you’re automatically entered into every event as deemed appropriate by OVO and ESO, but you have a choice to not take part in it.

3.3 If you successfully move your electricity use above or below your normal usage, as measured by our baseline methodology [see 3.4], as part of a Power Up or Power Down event then you may be rewarded with credit to your bill. Please see Section 5 for more details.

3.4 For Power Down and Power Up events, we calculate your baseline using ESO’s methodology:

For working days (Mon - Fri excluding bank holidays) – your baseline is calculated using the half hourly electricity usage data taken from your smart meter over the last 10 working days before an event. You’ll need to have at least 5 working days worth of data for a target to be calculated.

For non-working days (Saturday, Sunday & bank holidays) – your baseline is calculated using the half hourly electricity usage data taken from your smart meter over the last 4 non-working days. You’ll need to have at least 4 non-working days worth of data for a target to be calculated.

Power Move Flex for Charge Anytime

3.5 For Charge Anytime customers on Power Move Flex, you are rewarded for the time your EV is spent connected to your EV charger and optimised through Charge Anytime.

3.6 We’ll optimise your charging in line with Power Up and Power Down events, and your vehicle will have the required quantity of energy at the ready-by-time you set.

3.7 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.

How can I join the Trial?

3.8 Entry to Trial 2 is by invitation. You may also receive a notification to join, or be auto-enrolled from Trial 1. We’ll be inviting eligible customers to sign up from August 2024.

Please note that places are limited to:

50,000 for Power Up and Power Down events
10,000 for Power Move Flex for Charge Anytime

Signing up doesn’t guarantee you’ll be accepted onto the Trial. When you sign up you’ll be added to a waitlist and we’ll be randomly selecting customers to join the Trial. You’ll receive an email from us to confirm if you’ve been added to the Trial.

3.9 A control group will also be selected randomly from the waitlist and you’ll be notified by email if you’re in this group. The control group helps in improving understanding of baseline consumer behaviours. While you won’t participate in the Trial, or receive event notifications during the Trial, if you’re in this group, your smart meter and survey response data will be shared in accordance with CrowdFlex data sharing terms and our just in time notice.

4. Eligibility

4.1 In order to be eligible for Trial 2 and Power Move Flex (Power Up and Power Down events) you’ll need to meet the following criteria:

have a communicating electricity smart meter
your smart meter can be credit or Pay As You Go
have a smart meter that is single rate (meaning you only pay a single, flat rate for your electricity) or economy-7
opt in to half-hourly meter readings
have an active email address
have OVO as your energy provider
follow with these Terms and the Core Terms

4.2 To be eligible for Power Move Flex for Charge Anytime, you must meet the following criteria:

Have the OVO Charge Anytime add on
have a communicating electricity smart meter that is a credit meter
have a smart meter that is single rate (meaning you only pay a single, flat rate for your electricity) or economy-7
opt in to half-hourly meter readings
have an active email address
have OVO as your energy provider
follow with these Terms and the Core Terms, and Charge Anytime Terms

4.3 Unfortunately there may be some types of credit and single rate smart meters that won’t work with Power Move Flex. If you have an ineligible meter you won’t be able to join.

4.4 Unfortunately there may be some types of EV Charger that won’t work withPower Move Flex for Charge Anytime. If you have an ineligible charger you won’t be able to join.

4.5 If at any time you fail to meet the Eligibility Criteria, including no longer opting in to receive emails about Power Move Flex, email marketing consent or half-hourly meter readings, then we reserve the right to end your participation in Power Move Flex and you won’t receive any Power Move Flex credit.

4.6 If at any time you don’t meet the Eligibility Criteria, including no longer opting in to half-hourly meter readings, then we reserve the right to terminate your participation in any CrowdFlex trial. And you won’t receive any further CrowdFlex related energy credit.

Opting out of events

4.7 You’ll be automatically opted in to every Power Up or Power Down event.

4.8 You won’t be able to opt out of a specific event, instead you’d have to opt out of the Trial (see Section 6). There’s no obligation for you to take part in every event, and there’s no penalty for not taking part.

5. Reward

How much will I receive as a reward for Power Up and Power Down events?

5.1 As this is a trial, we’ll be testing different price incentives (£/kWh) per event. All trial participants will get different incentives (£/kWh) dependent on your group allocation. Participants will be split into up to 5 groups, each of which will be set a different reward value for each Power Move Flex event. You’ll stay in the same group for the duration of the trial. There’ll also be a control group who won’t be participating in the Trial or be able to earn bill credit. We’ll let you know by email if you’re in the control group.

Your total reward will depend on how much electricity you can move above or below your normal usage (depending on the event type) and your group allocation. We can’t guarantee that you’ll earn credit for each event. Some customers may not earn any bill credit (for example if you’re in the control group, or if the incentive is set to lower than the standard variable unit rate). We’ll let you know what group you’re in, and your reward value will be in your Power Flex event email.

5.2 If you’re on a credit meter, 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 September, you’ll receive energy credit in October.

5.3 If you’re on a pay as you go meter, the reward is applied as credit directly to your meter. You’ll be credited each month with the sum of all rewards earned in the previous month. For example, for any rewards earned in September, you’ll receive energy credit in October.

How much will I receive as a reward for Power Move Flex for Charge Anytime?

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

£/number of sessions plugged in.
A fixed price per month for plugging in as much as you’re able to.

All trial participants will receive different incentives dependent on your group allocation. Participants will be split into up to 5 groups, each of which will be set a different reward value. You’ll stay in the same group for the duration of the trial. There’ll also be a control group who won’t be participating in the Trial or be able to earn bill credit. We’ll let you know by email if you’re in the control group.

5.5 A session is defined by:

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.

5.6 The reward is being funded by ESO, with OVO passing through the payment to you. The level of reward for each event is also set by ESO.

5.7 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 September, you’ll receive energy credit in October.

5.8 If you pay by Direct Debit, the Direct Debit amount you pay per month won’t change, the energy credit will show as a separate line item on your bill.

5.9 If your account has a negative balance, any reward paid will be used to pay off what’s owed.

5.10 There’s no cash alternative to the reward and you won’t be able to withdraw the credit from your energy account to your bank account.

5.11 If we’re unable to read your smart meter data for 3 days after the event, then you won’t be eligible for the reward. If your smart meter isn’t communicating you won’t be able to receive a reward as we won’t have the data we need to correctly calculate your energy usage.

5.12 If we’re unable to collect plug in data from your EV charger for 3 days after the reward counter resets (5.3), 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.

5.13 There’s no guarantee that you’ll earn a minimum reward amount from taking part in Trial 2 and Power Move Flex.

What happens if I don’t meet the criteria to receive a reward?

5.14 For a Power Up event, you won’t be eligible to receive any reward if you don’t increase your electricity use to above your normal usage, as measured by our baseline methodology.

For a Power Down event, you won’t be eligible to receive any reward for an event if you don’t reduce your electricity use to below your normal usage, as measured by our baseline methodology.

For Power Move Flex for Charge Anytime, you won’t be eligible to receive any reward for an event if you don’t plug in your EV.

6. Ending your participation in CrowdFlex

If you want to leave the CrowdFlex trial

6.1 You can exit the Trial at any time by pressing the unsubscribe button at the bottom of any Power Move Flex email you've received. This may take up to 48 hours to complete. Your opt out won’t be recorded until you’ve picked an option of continuing to share your data with the project, or to stop sharing all data with the project.

6.2 By exiting the Trial, you’ll have a choice of whether your data is removed from the project in accordance with the CrowdFlex data sharing terms and our just in time notice, or if you’re happy with your data being shared during the remaining project period to help with the research.

6.3 If you opt out of the trial, you’ll receive a survey asking you about your experience of the Trial. This isn’t compulsory to fill in.

6.4 We’ll keep your smart meter read history, MPAN, electricity rates, CrowdFlex payment history and all communications including survey responses collected until the date of your exit, to fulfil our obligations as part of the project. We’ll retain your personal details as part of the CrowdFlex project until you request to delete it. We’re unable to delete any data relating to your personal account.

6.5 We’re unable to remove any collected data that’s already been shared with the project partners.

If you switch away

6.6 You’re free to switch away at any time (unless you owe us money, in which case we may stop your switch until the money is paid). If you switch away at any point when you’re signed up to Power Up and Power Down events, we’ll end your participation in Power Move Flex and you won’t receive any Power Move Flex credit accrued from the last time you were credited up to and including your switch date. You’ll find further information about switching away from OVO in our Core Terms.

If you move home

6.7 If you move home during the trial, we won’t be able to sign you back up to the CrowdFlex trial.

When we can terminate your participation in the Trial

6.8 If you don’t comply with these Terms or our Core Terms, including where you don’t pay your bills or if you no longer meet any of our Eligibility Criteria, we reserve the right to end your participation in the Trial (and therefore Power Move Flex). This would happen with immediate effect and you’ll no longer be eligible to receive the energy credit for any Power Up and Power Down events you take part in.

7. Contacting Us

If you have any questions about the Trial or CrowdFlex, please get in touch with us via webchat.

8. Contacting You

8.1 By signing up to the Trial, you’re agreeing to receive communications in relation to these events for the entirety of the time you’re opted in. It’s your responsibility to make sure your email address and mobile number are kept up to date in order to receive our emails. If you need to change your email address or mobile number, you can do this in your online account.

8.2 As part of this Trial, we’ll share your data with the ESO and other trusted third parties involved in the project, as per clause 9 and our just in time notice. All collected 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.

8.3 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. ESO's privacy policy and OVO's Just in Time Notice

9. Data sharing; what data we collect and how we use it

9.1 By signing up for the Trial 2, you agree to:

Allow OVO to share your anonymised data (postcode, your smart meter read history, MPAN, CrowdFlex payment history, electricity rates, EV plug-in data and all communications including survey responses) with the project partners mentioned in the just in time notice, energy regulator OFGEM and project auditors
Allow OVO to share your data (postcode, your email address, electricity rates, electricity MPAN and OVO ID) with Kaluza if you’re a Charge Anytime customer. This is to notify them that you’re a Charge Anytime customer and to allow them to provide smart charging services;
Allow OVO to share your data (MPAN, name, email address) with Ohme (if you’re a Charge Anytime customer)

Please see our just in time notice for more details.

10. General

10.1 We won’t be liable for any loss or damage you may suffer as a result of your participation in Power Up and Power Down events, where such loss or damage cannot be excluded by law.

10.2 These Terms are governed by English Law and any dispute arising in relation to these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.