mentalinc:

 

That article is a week old and Flick sent out an email last week addressing it with their thoughts...

 

Which was?

zerkms:

 

I know it's a bit unrelated, but it's still relevant :-D 

 

given that one has a smart meter do you still need to install a ripple control to be able to use controlled plans? (for a hot water cylinder)

 

My guess is that the smart meter should be able to do that, but the electrician does not agree :-S

 

Depends on line company, but generally yes you will need ripple control + smart meter to benefit from controlled rate. The whole point of controlled rates is 1) that you use the power outside peak and 2) the lines company can cut demand in an instant if neccessary.

Often you can get time of use rates which use smart meter without ripple control, but the rates aren't as cheap as controlled. Controlled is often worth it for hot water cylinders, and the cost of getting a ripple control receiver can be paid back quickly by savings. 

nickb800:

 

Depends on line company, but generally yes you will need ripple control + smart meter to benefit from controlled rate. The whole point of controlled rates is 1) that you use the power outside peak and 2) the lines company can cut demand in an instant if neccessary.

 

Often you can get time of use rates which use smart meter without ripple control, but the rates aren't as cheap as controlled. Controlled is often worth it for hot water cylinders, and the cost of getting a ripple control receiver can be paid back quickly by savings. 

 

Right, so to summarise it: a ripple controller (as a separated device) is still necessary even with a smart meter.

That's a total surprise to me, I thought "smart" means it is smarter than the "old-generation" "dumb" power meters.

zerkms:

 

nickb800:

 

Depends on line company, but generally yes you will need ripple control + smart meter to benefit from controlled rate. The whole point of controlled rates is 1) that you use the power outside peak and 2) the lines company can cut demand in an instant if neccessary.

 

Often you can get time of use rates which use smart meter without ripple control, but the rates aren't as cheap as controlled. Controlled is often worth it for hot water cylinders, and the cost of getting a ripple control receiver can be paid back quickly by savings. 

 

 

Right, so to summarise it: a ripple controller (as a separated device) is still necessary even with a smart meter.

 

That's a total surprise to me, I thought "smart" means it is smarter than the "old-generation" "dumb" power meters.

 

Our smart meters are half way between dumb and smart meters.

The smart meter can tell your power co that you used 1kwh at 11pm, but can't turn it off if there's a grid emergency. Some smart meters have integrated ripple control, but I understand that few if any retailers actually use this functionality, preferring to use an external ripple control

Todays Spot price update

You might have noticed that prices have been higher than normal over the past few days. We know that this is a down buzz (we’re feeling it too), especially after the pre-Christmas pricing we saw!

A few supply factors are putting pressure on the system this week, which might help explain what’s going on.

More generation outages!

A significant amount of electricity has been made unavailable by the generators due to plant outages. Plants managed by Genesis, Meridian, Mighty River and Contact amongst others have been taken offline, and as you know, when supply gets low, the wholesale price of power tends to increase because more expensive forms of (often dirty) power need to be brought on to fill the gap. Remember, we pass on all of the costs of electricity from the wholesale market to you with no mark-up, so we don’t make a cent extra when wholesale prices rise.

The Huntly power station managed by Genesis is scheduled to come back online 22 January, bringing 243MW back into the mix; Contact’s Stratford power station is scheduled to come back online 24 January, adding 100MW; and Mighty River’s Kawerau power station is scheduled to fire back up 3 February, bringing 106MW back. These dates are subject to change but we will keep you posted as we hear more.

A bit of perspective

We know it’s hard when you get high price alerts, but most of the time you’re still better off with Flick than another retailer. In 2017, despite the Dry Winter conditions, Flicksters paid an average 25.64 cents per kWh for electricity compared with a national average of 28.79 cents per kWh (MBIE) - how’s that for perspective?! 

It’s interesting too to look at savings over the two and a half years since Flick’s been going. Summer often sees slightly lower savings because generation maintenance often happens over the summer months. But overall, with the exception of last winter, Flicksters are winning year round.

It is easier to stop caring - you're still better off in most cases :)

timmmay: I find with the volatility of the past year in happier on a fixed price provider.

Sigh... How many of these smug posts does it take before they become thread crapping? You're at least guilty of being a heartless gloater!

Just a quick msg to say that i've given Flick the flick (we live in Christchurch). While last year during the summer months I was spoiled in seeing how low electricity prices were, these past few weeks have been a rip off. When compared to the fix price day & night rates that Genesis has, the Flick dashboard would consistently show higher rates, particularly in the off peak night rate. Genesis is around 12c/kW/hr and Flick dashboard would never be that low in the past few months, and talk about the winter months that had me off the chair! Anyways, Genesis came knocking on my door giving me the $150 credit and 15% prompt payment discount. How could I say no?

I've been with Energy Online for ages.

Every now and then I check on Powerswitch...and it hasn't changed in ages either.

There were a couple of times - Globug, Flick listed cheaper, but Globug? Meh, what a PITA.

Flick? Well, yes the catch is, what people are seeing now.

I recommend Powerswitch before you make your choice.....while EO is best for me in my area, it varies depending where you live.

They also have a rate by customer service too.