Time to give electricity the flick?

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

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1211 posts

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#1822778 15-Jul-2017 10:36

easycloud:

Edit: I just realised the supply_node in the new URL might change from location to location, hence you'd have to find what yours would be.

Ahh, and that was it. I changed to 1791ac20-df64-4235-8d06-562cc24d22e6 which is the node I'm using and I now get the data.

For those that want their node name, I installed a TLS proxy on my Android phone and pulled it from the https trace. I used the app "Packet Capture".

gchiu

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#1822816 15-Jul-2017 12:04

I've created a new script for those who know their supply_node details to dump the current and 30 minute predicted price. It now sleeps until the next price change over but you can change it to whatever you like.

rebol-api-script

voy1d

176 posts

Master Geek

#1822883 15-Jul-2017 14:01

easycloud:

That's not a real value, it's a placeholder which indicates the price cannot be guestimated right now. From Flick's website:

https://news.flickelectric.co.nz/2017/05/18/forecast-to-final-prices/

What about infeasible pricing?

Well, this just means that the system operator (Transpower) doesn’t have all of the data it needs to calculate accurate prices for certain half-hourly periods. In the interim they use an extreme ‘placeholder’ (or stand-in) price of 50,000 cents per kWh in the data they send us, to signal ‘infeasible pricing’. If you’re a Flick customer, we’ll let you know in your CHOICE app that we’re getting some unreliable pricing information, and you should hold tight. Your daily total will be adjusted when we receive the final prices from Transpower in around two days time, and they’re normally similar to the 2 half hour periods either side of the infeasible pricing event.

I guess that is a layman's term of what that price means. A $500,00 price is considered infeasible because that is the upper limit that a price can take in the LP which solves the market (see Part 13, Schedule 13.3 of the code). Basically, the LP will go until it finds a feasible solution but will stop if a price at a node hits $500,000 - so is an artificial constraint.

There is also another system called RMT which solves for the reserve price and that has upper limits of $200,000 on reserve energy again to stop the LP if there is no realistic solution.

Aredwood

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#1822905 15-Jul-2017 15:14

The monthly switching figures for June are now out. Despite the high spot prices Flick only lost 290 customers, and in some areas they posted small gains in customer numbers. Yet at the same time, Genesis lost 3016 customers, Trustpower lost 2310 customers, and Contact lost 491 customers.

Biggest gainers were Mercury with 1946 new customers, Electric Kiwi with 1743 new customers, Pulse energy with 858 new customers, and Switch Utilities with 838 new customers. Pulse energy supplies grey power power, and Switch Utilities is the power company that Vocus recently bought. Which are the power supplier behind Slingshot power.

Of course the interesting figures will be the July switching figures when they come out. And apart from Mercury, the other big generator / retailers will be disappointed that not that many people had left Flick Electric (at least not yet). And that most of them appeared to have gone to other smaller companies. Note also that in the yearly figures, Mercury were doing quite well even before the wholesale prices started spiking, so it is hard to infer how much of their growth was from Ex Flick customers. Compared to growth that would have happened anyway.

gchiu

1211 posts

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#1822949 15-Jul-2017 16:50

I just realised that I don't need to know the exact price, but price ranges are just fine.

So, instead of setting up a screen with pricing, I can control the colour of a 6W Limitless LED colour bulb to indicate the current price, with a red bulb being a warning of high prices, and green being ok etc. If it goes over a $1, I can flash the bulb red etc.

Now to figure out how to get Alexa to tell me the current price when I ask her...

Sam91

620 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1823002 15-Jul-2017 19:01

Prices have definitely settled today, possibly cheaper today being with Flick than other companies, which is a nice change.

Flick's graphs aren't designed for prices above 50c per unit.

Here's the damage from Thursday (the worst day):

$33 for one day of power, 61c approx. per unit. Look at the difference between Monday and Thursday, only slightly more power used, but a huge difference in price.

Let's hope that will be the worst ever day as a Flick customer.

Posting this so all the ex Flicksters can think "phew".

pogo

84 posts

Master Geek

#1823004 15-Jul-2017 19:16

@Sam91 Isn't that the opposite of how the graph is supposed to look?

Although that still cost $21! My highest day ever.

Sam91

620 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1823007 15-Jul-2017 19:28

pogo:
@Sam91 Isn't that the opposite of how the graph is supposed to look?

Although that still cost $21! My highest day ever.

Unfortunately so. My parents run their business from home, hence the high usage during the day. We'd usually be taking advantage of the cheaper power overnight by running the pool pump. The prices were so high I decided to it off completely for a few days.

Your graph is impressive : )

Wiggum

1199 posts

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#1823234 16-Jul-2017 12:54

My prices over the last few days.

Thursday and Friday are still estimates, but I think they are more or less right.

ouch .....

michaelmurfy

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#1823242 16-Jul-2017 13:09

So looking at my EK graphs it appears that while I was at work my sister had the heatpump and dryer (which is a heatpump dryer so kinda low power use) turned on - maybe oven too.

Phew I would have been bankrupt. Now, if it was just me I likely would have had ~$2 added to my bill for that day but I can estimate maybe $50 for that days use if I was still with Flick. Swings and roundabouts.

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Wiggum

1199 posts

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#1823243 16-Jul-2017 13:13

michaelmurfy:

So looking at my EK graphs it appears that while I was at work my sister had the heatpump and dryer (which is a heatpump dryer so kinda low power use) turned on - maybe oven too.

Phew I would have been bankrupt. Now, if it was just me I likely would have had ~$2 added to my bill for that day but I can estimate maybe $50 for that days use if I was still with Flick. Swings and roundabouts.

This is the problem with Flick, If you are a single person manning all of your power yourself, then its fine.

But if you have a family, with little mouths to feed, and house to keep warm, its just not viable to have to react to phone notifications warning you to turn things off. School holidays when you at work don't help either, your whole family needs to be onboard with this or else it can just end up actually costing you more than other suppliers.

gchiu

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#1823260 16-Jul-2017 14:09

Wiggum:

But if you have a family, with little mouths to feed, and house to keep warm, its just not viable to have to react to phone notifications warning you to turn things off. School holidays when you at work don't help either, your whole family needs to be onboard with this or else it can just end up actually costing you more than other suppliers.

Send them all off to the library. Nice and cosy there.

tdgeek

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#1823263 16-Jul-2017 14:40

Wiggum:
michaelmurfy:

So looking at my EK graphs it appears that while I was at work my sister had the heatpump and dryer (which is a heatpump dryer so kinda low power use) turned on - maybe oven too.

Phew I would have been bankrupt. Now, if it was just me I likely would have had ~$2 added to my bill for that day but I can estimate maybe $50 for that days use if I was still with Flick. Swings and roundabouts.

This is the problem with Flick, If you are a single person manning all of your power yourself, then its fine.

But if you have a family, with little mouths to feed, and house to keep warm, its just not viable to have to react to phone notifications warning you to turn things off. School holidays when you at work don't help either, your whole family needs to be onboard with this or else it can just end up actually costing you more than other suppliers.

This has been a days issue not an every second week for a week one. If you use Flick you get low rates all through the year, and this day's issue may happen a couple of times. Beats me how some love the low rates but can't endure the opposite for a very brief period

Wiggum

1199 posts

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#1823273 16-Jul-2017 15:24

tdgeek:

This has been a days issue not an every second week for a week one. If you use Flick you get low rates all through the year, and this day's issue may happen a couple of times. Beats me how some love the low rates but can't endure the opposite for a very brief period

I agree with you, but the point I am trying to make is that you need to be home to be able to manage it. If switching appliances off is out of your control, then flick is not right for you.

Granted it was brief period (2 days in a row), but Winter is far from over and there is more to come. I guess its a risk that some are prepared to take, and others not. Personally I would just prefer a flat rate, even if its a bit more.

I just don't see the point of being at work, receiving notification of high prices etc when there is little I can actually do.

Flick is a great idea, they can make far better by perhaps giving users the flexibility of switching between a fixed rate/spot prices whenever required.

easycloud

48 posts

Geek

#1823302 16-Jul-2017 16:01

pogo:

@Sam91 Isn't that the opposite of how the graph is supposed to look?

Although that still cost $21! My highest day ever.

I think I might have dodged a bullet too, phew...

Mine cost $17.45 with 5 people in the house. Needless to say, it was a winter day to remember.

My wife suggested the library or a mall that day, but I thought whatever savings we would make might have ended up in petrol or impulse mall purchases.

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