EDF Beat the Peak anyone?

[Clive Page]

Has anyone managed to sign up for EDF's Beat the Peak or equivalent schemes of other energy companies? These give you a refund if you manage to reduce your power usage during a period of peak consumption in the country.

I would have thought that we'd qualify having a smart meter which is working in that it sends readings to them. Press reports said that hundreds of thousands of customers have been sent emails saying they can sign up. But I didn't. Now I've asked EDF how to sign up, it says the scheme is now closed to new applicants. Maybe it was too successful?


--
Clive Page

[Andy Burns]

Clive Page wrote:

> Has anyone managed to sign up for EDF's Beat the Peak or equivalent
> schemes of other energy companies?

No, but I have asked EDF if they've given up trying to "re-smart" my
smart meter ...

Got accosted by a reasonably nice chap flogging octopus yesterday, their
"Tracker" tariff seems to hover along between 17 and 20p per kWh instead
of fixed 27p tariff, the only worry is how high does it peak in the
depths of winter?

[Theo]

Andy Burns <use...@andyburns.uk> wrote:
> No, but I have asked EDF if they've given up trying to "re-smart" my
> smart meter ...
>
> Got accosted by a reasonably nice chap flogging octopus yesterday, their
> "Tracker" tariff seems to hover along between 17 and 20p per kWh instead
> of fixed 27p tariff, the only worry is how high does it peak in the
> depths of winter?

50-80p, but only for a couple of weeks:
https://energy-stats.uk/octopus-tracker-east-midlands/

[Robin]

On 06/12/2023 16:20, Clive Page wrote:
> Has anyone managed to sign up for EDF's Beat the Peak or equivalent
> schemes of other energy companies?
>

Yes, for BG's.
--
Robin
reply-to address is (intended to be) valid

[alan_m]

On 06/12/2023 16:20, Clive Page wrote:

> Has anyone managed to sign up for EDF's Beat the Peak or equivalent
> schemes of other energy companies?  These give you a refund if you
> manage to reduce your power usage during a period of peak consumption in
> the country.

I've signed up for the Octopus version. I got a whopping 18p for one of
the recent sessions. Unfortunately you don't have any choice in the
hour or two for which they want you to reduce electricity consumption.
They compare your average usage over a period of X days for the same
time period in order to establish what the reduction may be. So far all
periods where a "reward" is given for using less have been periods where
this household doesn't use much electricity.

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

[Andy Burns]

Which of their tariffs? e.g. it strikes me that if you're on one of
their "agile" tariffs where usage is more expensive around teatime,
you'll already have minimised usage then anyway, so when they offer
discount for reduced usage, it will be unlikely you can do much more
reduction during the peak?

Octopus seems like a "clever" way of slicing the year/week/day into
multiple periods where you might be able to save, or if you're not
careful they might be able to fleece you ...

[alan_m]

On 06/12/2023 19:32, Andy Burns wrote:

> alan_m wrote:


>> I've signed up for the Octopus version.  I got a whopping 18p for one
>> of the recent sessions.   Unfortunately you don't have any choice in
>> the hour or two for which they want you to reduce electricity
>> consumption. They compare your average usage over a period of X days
>> for the same time period in order to establish what the reduction may
>> be. So far all periods where a "reward" is given for using less have
>> been periods where this household doesn't use much electricity.
>
> Which of their tariffs?  e.g. it strikes me that if you're on one of
> their "agile" tariffs where usage is more expensive around teatime,
> you'll already have minimised usage then anyway, so when they offer
> discount for reduced usage, it will be unlikely you can do much more
> reduction during the peak?

I'm on their standard variable tariff (flexible octopus).

[Robin]

On 06/12/2023 19:32, Andy Burns wrote:

BG just letting us dip our toes at present with offers of payments for
reductions between 17:00 and 18:30 or thereabouts on a few days when
wind was forecast to be low.

I assume they will be monitoring to what extent that has the perverse
effect of encouraging folk to shift use to that period on other days to
raise baselines.

[ajh]

I got 79p for one, still awaiting results for the other, my daughter got
£11 for the first one in December.

[alan_m]

Yes, I think one of the periods was something like £4 per KWh. I seem to
remember that last winter there were a few sessions with similar
payments for a reduction in usage. This year the designated times have
been around 5pm/6:30pm which I assume is the peak tea time cooking
period for many (working) families. The consumption during this time in
my household may be the CH pump, a few low wattage light bulbs, the
broadband router and the TV (maybe the fridge/freezer kicking in).

[Max Demian]

On 06/12/2023 19:32, Andy Burns wrote:

I want to decide when to cook dinner based on habit and hunger, not the
whim of my energy company.

--
Max Demian

[The Natural Philosopher]

On 07/12/2023 13:42, Max Demian wrote:
> I want to decide when to cook dinner based on habit and hunger, not the
> whim of my energy company.

Tough shit baby, Welcome to the new green communism.

--
Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have
guns, why should we let them have ideas?

Josef Stalin

[Theo]

So far, on the standard tariffs, they only give you a discount for using/not
using electricity at specific times. You can continue to cook dinner
whenever you feel like and it costs your standard rate, just like you pay
for the rest of time unless there's a discount period available. The
discount periods are infrequent (roughly a couple of hours once a week).
You can get a decent chunk of cash if you make use of them but you don't
have to, your choice.

Or you have the option for the tariffs where energy is priced like the stock
market (which it is, wholesale). But you wouldn't choose them unless
you are fully prepared to play that game.

Theo