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  • Rebecca's Avatar
    Head of Community
    This page is dedicated to the participants of our new Power Payback customer trial. You can read all about the trial in more detail, plus chat to other participants and give feedback – we'd love to hear from you!
    Why are we doing this trial?

    We’re on a mission to help customers spend less on their energy. This trial will help customers use energy at times when it’s cheaper – and we’ll pass the saving directly to you!

    During the day, there are times when the price of electricity is higher. This happens because of increases in demand, and power plants will be on standby. This means costs, and our carbon footprint goes up.

    The aim of this trial is to help customers use energy at the best possible time. We’ll let you know via SMS when these more expensive usage times are happening – and if you reduce your electricity usage, we’ll pass on the savings and reward you with energy credits on your smart meter. It’s win-win!

    How does the trial work?

    - The trial will last 4 weeks, starting from 31 October.

    - You’ll be asked to reduce your electricity usage once a week during a specific time frame. We’ll let you know exactly what you need to do via SMS.

    - We’ll give you suggestions on ways you could reduce your energy usage.

    - If you successfully reduce your electricity usage, we’ll credit your meter. The more you reduce your usage, the more you can earn.

    - We’ll confirm the result of the trial and if you’ve earnt £££s.

    What will I be asked to do?

    We’ll ask you to reduce your electricity usage in a specific time window. We’ll give you tips on how to do this, and you’ll get SMS messages with all the information you’ll need:

    A reminder SMS 24 hours before your timeframe to reduce your electricity usage (we’ll also include a suggestion on how you might do this)

    A reminder of your timeframe 1 hour before it starts

    An SMS that lets you know when the timeframe is over

    A request to give some feedback – we’d love to hear what you think!

    FAQs

    Can I see the results?
    Of course, you can! We’ll be updating this page with all the insights we get from the trial. You can also interact with the Utilita team as well as other trial participants. Make sure you get involved, ask questions, and submit any queries that you have. It all helps us build better services in the future.

    What's the maximum I can earn in the trial?
    We'll pay a maximum of £15 each time you successfully reduce your usage during the trial. You'll have 1 window to do this each week while the trial is running. That equates to a maximum earning of £15 per week.

    When will I receive my credit?
    We’ll pay you for reducing your electricity usage during a specific time frame each week. You’ll get an SMS which confirms how much this is, and we’ll send this directly to your meter.

    The SMS confirms that I was successful, but I see no credit on the meter.

    It will take a few days for us to send whatever you’ve earned, so make sure to wait at least 72 hours for your credit to appear. If you still can’t see it - please contact our customer service team on 0330 3337 442 Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm and Saturday, 8am to 5pm - or chat to a Customer Service Advisor via our Live Chat (please see the icon on the bottom right hand side of the Utilita Website Homepage) and we’ll sort this for you.

    How do we calculate the amount you have saved?
    How much you earn is all about how much you reduce your electricity usage compared to what’s typical for your household. We look at your historic usage data, as recorded by your smart meter, then we compare this to what your usage was during the specific time frames we set out in the trial.

    We then take the reduction amount and multiply it by the unit rate (p/kWh) provided during each specified time widow in the trial to work out how much credit to give you.

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    How can I reduce my usage during this trial?
    Apart from not using your large appliances during the event window there are other ways to reduce your electricity usage. Please find energy saving tips in the link below www.utilita.co.uk/high5

    Is my personal or energy data shared with third parties?

    No. The trial is conducted by Utilita only and no customer data is shared with third parties.

    You can find all T&C's here - please ensure you read them


    We'd love you to use this space to let us know how you get on, and comment in the below comments thread on how you are finding it, your thoughts - and general feedback & suggestions. You can chat to other trialists in the thread too! 👇 🤗
    Last edited by Rebecca; 01-11-22 at 10:02.
    I am your Community Manager! 😀

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    Feel free to message me any time by clicking here
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  • 32 Replies

  • Rebecca's Avatar
    Head of Community
    Thanks again for taking part in our Power Payback trial. We’ve had a great response so far and have already seen trialists saving, and earning cashback, on their energy!

    The highlights so far

    So far, 69.5 % of our trialists managed to reduce their consumption by 10.5 % on average.

    We paid trialists £1,766 in total and on top of that, trialists managed to save £98.4 worth of electricity.

    Don’t forget, every kWh saved helps the planet too. In fact, trialists managed to save 53.5 kg CO2, that is equivalent to the pollution from driving 194.8 miles! So thank you for doing your part and being an eco-hero!

    Finally! Hats off to 2 of our trialists that earned the maximum pay-out of £15 for a single event!

    Be sure to keep an eye out for your next weekly text, letting you know when it’s time to earn money for consuming less energy!
    Last edited by Rebecca; 10-11-22 at 11:46.
  • PotNoodles's Avatar
    Level 3
    Hiya how can I be opted into this please.
  • Rebecca's Avatar
    Head of Community
    @PotNoodles Hello! We are two weeks into this trial now.

    I have gone back to our Trial Team to see if it possible for you to join mid way through, and will let you know as soon as they come back to me 😊
  • TerriB14's Avatar
    Level 1
    I completed part of the trial on Monday and having taken part the previous 2 weeks, normally you get a text message the day after stating if you’d managed to reduce your energy usage. I haven’t received anything from this Mondays, does that mean I didn’t reduce my energy usage at all?
  • Rebecca's Avatar
    Head of Community
    @TerriB14 Hello! Communication for Monday's event (14/11/2022) should have been sent by now. Please let us know if you received one. usually it takes a couple of days after the event for the result SMS to be sent 😊
  • TerriB14's Avatar
    Level 1
    @Rebecca hi, thank you for the reply! I received my text last night, I am rather pleased as I got the highest amount I’ve earned so far, credited back to me this time!
  • Rebecca's Avatar
    Head of Community
    @TerriB14 That is great to hear! Well done! All worth it! How are you finding the trial overall?

    Rebecca
  • TerriB14's Avatar
    Level 1
    @Rebecca I’ve found it good, interesting to see how we are able to reduce usage, turning things off you don’t always think about, microwave, chargers etc. it’s been slightly tricky during the real peak times, this one was 3:30-6pm and I was worried because it’s peak time for cooking etc, but as I said I was so pleased as we managed it and had a real reward for it!
  • deed's Avatar
    Level 1
    I am wondering do you always have the same day in the trial?
    I am not happy with the 2 time slots I have had Both being on a Sunday. The 1st 9/10pm when we are settled for the night cosying up with candles watching tv and we saved hardly anything. Last week again sun 3/7 this time we were out for 2 hours and had take away for dinner so I thought this time would be better ...no it was even worse.

    My husband and I feel dejected and are thinking off opting out
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