Help us save Saving Sessions
Saving Sessions’ future is in jeopardy.
This Friday 22nd November, the energy regulator Ofgem are deciding:
- Whether the service should continue at all
- How much reward customers should receive for taking part
The proposal they’re assessing would reduce the reward you receive by ~90%. Where previously, we typically paid you £2.25 per unit you saved, it would be more like 22p per unit instead.
Want Saving Sessions to stick around, and stay valuable? You’ve got 24 hours to have your say.
UPDATE 21st November: NESO and Ofgem have just rushed out a decision that would reduce your reward. Help us change their minds.
Why might the Saving Sessions rewards change or end?
Saving Sessions is part of an initiative from the government owned “National Energy System Operator” (NESO): the Demand Flexibility Service. That means that NESO factor in your efforts when balancing the grid, and they give us (and all energy suppliers) the funding to reward you for taking part.
They’ve arrived at the lower reward because that’s the sort of amount they pay a gas plant to turn on to cover the busiest time of day (it does vary - as would future Saving Sessions rewards). But it’s not a fair comparison – they pay the gas plants a lot of money “just in case”, as well as the per-usage costs. There’s no proposal to do the same for customers.
We've contacted a handful of customers about this already, but won't have time to reach everyone - if you want to get involved, here's how:
Email Ofgem
This button should open up a new draft email for you, already populated with the right email address and a template answer to send to (or of course, you're welcome to do it in your own words)!
If that doesn't work, email consumeraffairs@ofgem.gov.uk and copy in hello@octopus.energy with the subject line "Please save the Demand Flexibility Service."
OR have your say on social media
X (Twitter) is probably easiest – using @Ofgem, @OctopusEnergy and #SaveTheDFS – but they're also on Linkedin.
Saving Sessions has proven that our energy system can be more self-sufficient, sustainable, and rewarding for citizens.
It’s not the time to stamp all that progress out.
The UK energy system needs to invest in that future, instead of relying on more of the same imported fossil fuels that triggered a once-in-a-generation energy crisis just a few years ago.
We think Saving Sessions has been a massive success: saving a small gas-powered station’s worth of power each time the grid needed it, and hundreds of tonnes of carbon emissions.
Closer to home, it reduced your bills by £10 million over the past two winters, and raised £400,000 in donations for customers struggling with their bills, and not to mention potentially thousands more family board games played, books opened, dogs walked, hobbies picked up (and, lets be honest, pints downed).
We hope you loved Saving Sessions as much as we did. However you felt about it, we wanted to give you a chance to have your say.
Published on 21st November 2024 by:
Hey I'm Constantine, welcome to Octopus Energy!
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