Time to give electricity the flick?

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Time to give electricity the flick?

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#1787457 24-May-2017 13:59

nickb800:

The peak hours for spot prices aren't hard and fast. Generally think 7-9am, 5-7pm, but stuff happens. More a case of monitoring the price alerts from the app and mitigating usage when an extreme spike happens.

The default is flat rate lines charges in Kapiti, but if you can set things to run overnight/outside peak then I recommend changing your meter to support Smart Plan - Triple Saver. With this, the peak is 7-11am, 5-9pm, night is 11pm-7am, and inbetween is offpeak.

https://assets.contentful.com/8pjb06am7y41/l7yjBNTmpwG6CKUWSkY8W/02ecb6277c39ea13fb26ba232ce502e3/Kapiti___Horowhenua_-_Price_Schedule_01_Apr_2017_Web_Schedules.pdf

I understand they aren't exact, just having an indication helps.

So am I reading this right ? I would be a Standard user on the Smart Plan Option at the bottom of the page you linked ?

I have two meters to the house, they were updated 12 months ago I think.

martyyn

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#1787485 24-May-2017 14:58

This is quite addictive when you start getting into it !

So Powershop has my current average at 42.4kWh uncontrolled and 6.4kWh of controlled usage. Their rates are currently 28.07c and 17.26c respectively, and they give me a daily rate of $13.52 at the moment.

If I take my last 24 hours of usage and spread it between the Flick Triple Saver plan and estimate a spot price of 6c (as someone mentioned in an earlier post) I end up with $7.54 a day which seems rather low.

nickb800

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#1787501 24-May-2017 15:29

martyyn:

This is quite addictive when you start getting into it !

So Powershop has my current average at 42.4kWh uncontrolled and 6.4kWh of controlled usage. Their rates are currently 28.07c and 17.26c respectively, and they give me a daily rate of $13.52 at the moment.

If I take my last 24 hours of usage and spread it between the Flick Triple Saver plan and estimate a spot price of 6c (as someone mentioned in an earlier post) I end up with $7.54 a day which seems rather low.

Ah yes - hence a 56 page thread on a power company.

Sounds like you have two meters - controlled and uncontrolled. The controlled meter generally counts hot water usage (sometimes spa pool heater, night store heater), and turns it off in peak times *sometimes* - this is done to suit the lines company, not the spot price market, although the two often align. Given your current meter setup, the relevant rate would be under the heading 'Uncontrolled and controlled', with the 'A' line relating to general uncontrolled usage and the 'controlled' line relating to hot water heating.

Also make sure you include GST - this isn't counted in Flicks schedule or the spot price.

To make use of the 'time of use - smart plan option' you will probably need to get your meter setup changed. Even though any idiot with a calculator could turn the half hourly readings from your smart meter into peak/offpeak/night totals, they may insist on a visit to your house to reprogram your uncontrolled meter to have three registers - this may cost in the order of $100-200.

The sort of saving that you have estimated is certainly possible - i'm saving a good 40% in Christchurch, and I modeled my parents in Kapiti as saving 35% if they got their meters changed as above.

Aredwood

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#1788245 25-May-2017 16:58

Just got a notification. Prices might be a bit higher than normal this evening.

michaelmurfy

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#1796340 8-Jun-2017 07:47

Looking pretty costly today...

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timmmay

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#1796345 8-Jun-2017 07:59

Yep. The past couple of weeks have been quite expensive. All because there hasn't been much rain down south and lake levels are lower than normal. Once winter rains kick in prices should go down. Winter is usually the cheapest power pricing, but you use more power.

al8565

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#1796347 8-Jun-2017 08:18

I discovered this graph, the flick increase in annual cost must be the extra winter charges, but I wasn't aware of Electric Kiwi dropped their prices:

https://www.powerswitch.org.nz/trends/christchurch

EnergyTrader

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#1796759 8-Jun-2017 16:03

Hey All,

I've been lurking on this thread for a while and am curious as to when/if those with Flick will be switching out to another retailer because of high prices. It looks like prices are expected to get pretty high this winter due to the low inflows. Does it make sense to switch to a normal retailer for a while and switch back when it rains? What does the wholesale price need to be to bother switching?

Full disclosure, I work in the industry, for a firm that isn't Flick. I like what they do though, giving people a choice about whether or not they take price risk is a good thing.

timmmay

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#1796783 8-Jun-2017 16:14

Flick is still cheaper for me right now. If another power company is cheaper I'll move sooner or later. I'm concerned with annual not monthly savings.

Lostja

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#1796790 8-Jun-2017 16:24

As above, still working out cheaper for me per annum. If we do switch at some point, it's not likely to be one of the big retailers.

Kraven

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#1796795 8-Jun-2017 16:31

Echoing the above, it's about annual savings. If crazy pricing like 26 Jul 2016* were to become a regular thing and erode those annual savings then yes, it would be time to look around at other options.

* Pricing went to something like 500c/unit in the morning, resulting in a huge spike in spend for many people.

Aredwood

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#1796809 8-Jun-2017 16:53

@EnergyTrader For me at least prices will have to get quite a bit higher. As im one of the very few people who are on the Vector peak/offpeak power plans in Auckland. Which means that I make savings on lines fees as well as the savings through the wholesale market with Flick. As far as I know, Flick Electric is the only power company that offers that plan to retail customers in the Vector lines area. Last Vector pricing disclosure release there were only 10 or so customers on the Vector peak / offpeak plans. So im sure that you understand the significance of me being 1 of those few customers. Im saving over $100 per year (and probably over $200) compared to a standard user or low user plan with Flick. So changing power companies would wipe out that saving.

Does the power company you work for offer peak / offpeak plans in the Vector lines area?

Last bill from Flick my average wholesale price was 6.043c per kW/hr. As most of my usage is offpeak. I have timers to switch off deferrable load during peak times. And LPG heating and cooking. So main change is im using the LPG heating far more than electric heating now. My LPG cost is 13.7c per kW/hr +GST (45KG bottles). So it is a good hedge for the heating part of my bill against high wholesale prices.

I also have Solar hot water, Which means with this fine weather, Im getting more solar that normal for this time of year. Ironicly I installed the solar before Flick electric even existed. So it has been mostly a stranded asset due to the lower prices Im getting with Flick.

And I have 2x 100AH 12V backup batteries that run my router, network switch, Wifi ect. Which are also on the timer. If I have to I could always just connect an inverter to them. For a bit more load deferral. I have already changed the timer settings so the charger will only run during the night time offpeak period. It used to also run during the daytime offpeak as well.

And then there is always my waste oil powered boiler. It gets a bit annoying to use after awhile. But provides all of the radiator central heating, hot water and spa heating I could ever need.

So for me at least, wholesale prices will have to go alot higher before I will bother switching. And then there is the hassle factor, and that most power companies will require a credit check. Which means another enquiry on your credit record. It is never a good look if you have too many enquiries in a short space of time.

And worst case I have a 3 phase petrol generator. (although only approx 2KVA per phase though)

Have also been trying to decide if it is worthwhile to expand my battery back capacity, buy some solar panels and charge controller, and an bigger inverter. Basicly build a offgrid power system that is independent of the grid power. Higher wholesale prices simply mean that building such a system becomes more economic.

timmmay

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#1796812 8-Jun-2017 16:57

The past week, peak prices are ending up to be a little less than what the big power companies charge all day. Off peak they're lower. Flick customers are used to reducing load during peak times and when alerts get sent out. Not a huge deal.

EnergyTrader

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#1796813 8-Jun-2017 16:58

Wow quick responses! Makes sense to consider it about the long term, and for sure it's not worth trying to dodge the occasional spike. I guess I was meaning more if the price went to say 20c all day every day for a month or two.

Futures contracts are suggesting the next few months will be around 13c (divide $/MWh by 10 to get c/KWh) but they'll continue to rise if the supply situation keeps getting tighter (and vice versa obviously), it seems like it wouldn't be worth switching to Flick while prices were up there (at least until they weren't), but was wondering if the hurdle is higher for switching from Flick. I guess it is if you look at the long term, but maybe not if you can just switch out for the high months?

You can see the futures prices here:

http://www.asx.com.au/asx/markets/futuresPriceList.do?code=ED&type=FUTURE

Agree if they are giving access to time of use lines charges then there are savings to be made there as well compared to other companies, and no as far as I'm aware we don't offer that.

Aredwood

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#1796814 8-Jun-2017 16:58

@Kraven For me the worst spike added about $2.50 to my bill for that day. As it occurred when my timers had my main loads disconnected. What is more worrying for me is higher wholesale prices even late at night and other normally load load times. As it makes it harder to avoid them just by time shifting your load.

As for those futures prices - 13c per unit or so wholesale - not going to worry about that. As my lines fees only add 4.11c per unit onto the wholesale rate for offpeak. So that wholesale market data is actually telling me that im better off staying with Flick.

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