AGL’s “Night Saver Energy Plan”

[Vostok]

AGL has revamped their EV charging plan with a new offer called “Night Saver Energy Plan”. The benefit of this plan is an incredibly cheap 8c/kWh rate between midnight and 6am. You have to provide proof of EV ownership registered at the billing address to be eligible.

I found it hard work to get the actual rate details - AGL on the chat refused to tell me the Plan ID so I could look it up on the Energy Made Easy website unless I provided my home address. In fact I was even told to “not use other websites” . Since I’m not an AGL customer, I wasn’t going to give them my home address.

Eventually I found these rates applied in my area:

• Peak rate: 57.2c
• Shoulder rate: 29.524c
• Off peak: 22.187c
• Night Saver EV charge: 8c
• Feed-in tariff: 7c
• Supply charge: 98.626c / day
• Carbon offset: $1/week

That’s a pretty compelling set of rates. The big bummer is that 100% Green Power is not available on this plan. Which made me wonder whether AGL cooked this up in order to financially shore up their coal clunkers overnight. If they provided Green Power, then it wouldn’t help that strategy, because then they’d have to pay the money collected to a renewable generator even though they may not be supplying much electricity at that time, and so their coal clunkers would still lose out.

Over the past 12 months, based on my actual 5-minute usage patters, this plan would save me $600 compared to my current plan (which is 100% Green Power) if I included carbon offsetting. Nothing to sneeze at. Over the past 12 months 68% of my grid consumption has been between midnight and 6am, and recently I have been more aggressively using my PW2 to arbitrage offpeak vs peak rates, by charging it up overnight if Solcast predicts poor solar generation the following day.

However carbon offsetting is nowhere near as good as 100% Green Power, and even for $600 p.a. I would feel like I am selling out my principles. So it’s a pass from me.

https://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/media-centre/asx-and-media-releases/2023/august/agl-launches-ev-plan-to-give-customers-freedom-to-charge-while-t

 

[Hungry Mile]

So it’s a pass from me.

Thanks for another great analysis @Vostok. I was never tempted due to my use case as I have peak usage I can’t shift, let alone the ethical considerations.
But you’ve prompted me to resurrect my spreadsheet to check out the new landscape.

 

[Midnight Man]

I saw this plan myself, but one of the main drivers behind moving to an EV for me is environmental outcomes.

I'm sticking with Red, who offer me 100% green power, at 17c overnight rates.

In my personal situation, I won't need to charge often overnight, and am about to deploy a Fronius Wattpilot J22 charger, which will integrate with our solar system to essentially only use excess solar to charge the vehicle.

 

[GedMelbAU]

I've recently moved to OV. It is saving us a heap. I've attached a screenshot of our rates in Melbourne (Powercor)

It has a 8c/kw from midnight to 6am and a 10c FIT.

If it looks like you'd save using it.

I used to be on the AGL EV plan, but after putting my usage through a spreadsheet I realised just how much OV would save me.

 

[B3AU]

Yep, consider the AGL Joint Venue - OVO - instead.

 

[BreatheSafe]

The Origin EV 360 plan is better to utilise solar as it is free 10am-3pm. A much better solar sponge. However you need to be home for this to work (and also now install at the least a wall charger through them).

 

[Vostok]

I've recently moved to OV. It is saving us a heap. I've attached a screenshot of our rates in Melbourne (Powercor)

It has a 8c/kw from midnight to 6am and a 10c FIT.

Looks like a good plan! I put the rates through my s/sheet for 100% Green Power, and it came out nearly $300 p.a. less than my current plan, which was the one of the cheapest plans among those from AGL, PowerShop, Diamond, Red Energy, ReAmped Solar and EnergyAustralia.

I’ll do a bit more research, but you might get yourself a referral

 

[JayTee]

Looks like a good plan! I put the rates through my s/sheet for 100% Green Power, and it came out nearly $300 p.a. less than my current plan, which was the one of the cheapest plans among those from AGL, PowerShop, Diamond, Red Energy, ReAmped Solar and EnergyAustralia.

I’ll do a bit more research, but you might get yourself a referral

I was just looking at the OVO plan, its listed as 10c FIT but in the fine print its limited to 4000kw per year then reverts to 7c. Still a good plan but thats only avout 11kw a day feed in and I average about 40 to 50kw a day.

 

[GedMelbAU]

My understanding was that the 4,000kw cap/year relates to the Solar plans and not the EV plan. If anyone knows different would be great to confirm.

 

[Vostok]

I was just looking at the OVO plan, its listed as 10c FIT but in the fine print its limited to 4000kw per year then reverts to 7c. Still a good plan but thats only avout 11kw a day feed in and I average about 40 to 50kw a day.

I am no chance of ever threatening that, I export less than 2 MWh/year into the grid. A lot of my excess solar goes into my car. I’m also currently on 2c FIT so 7c would be upside

 

[Vostok]

Some more OVO fine print that I read:

“Once we’re able to do so, and with your ongoing consent, we will monitor the vehicle itself to ensure all of the energy consumed during midnight and 6am, is actually going to the EV. Don't worry, we will notify you when this is available - we will require you to accept and consent to providing us with this information.”

I’m not sure how they would propose to measure your EV’s charging overnight, but every house also has background power consumption, and then things like dishwashers or washing machines or dryers set to run overnight. The way this is written, you have no latitude at all - “all of the energy consumed” must be going to your vehicle. No-one would ever be able to meet that!

Also it’s not clear with the “bill smoothing” approach what happens to any credit you might have on your account if you decided to close it. They appear to do a regular recalibration of the monthly fee you pay based on actual usage, but of course that will never be exact.

Ovo don‘t appear to have a chat or email ”contact us” option for clarification.

 

[MickyD]

I’m another OVO EV Plan user, I found them very responsive via their chat/email facilities (though admittedly I only used them after signing up)

I’d put a referral link, but I think it would get chopped by the mods.

 

[GedMelbAU]

Some more OVO fine print that I read:



I’m not sure how they would propose to measure your EV’s charging overnight, but every house also has background power consumption, and then things like dishwashers or washing machines or dryers set to run overnight. The way this is written, you have no latitude at all - “all of the energy consumed” must be going to your vehicle. No-one would ever be able to meet that!

Also it’s not clear with the “bill smoothing” approach what happens to any credit you might have on your account if you decided to close it. They appear to do a regular recalibration of the monthly fee you pay based on actual usage, but of course that will never be exact.

Ovo don‘t appear to have a chat or email ”contact us” option for clarification.

They say they will refund it. They also pay interest on the credit balance. My understanding is you can also request it be paid back to you from time to time.

For me they estimated a monthly payment of $119. So far in winter I am spending about $100/month. I'm looking forward to seeing how that changes in spring/summer as the daylight hours gets longer.

I've attached what they say in the app.

 

[BreatheSafe]

Just a friendly warning from experience with having too much credit with any of electricity retailers.
Some went bust not that long ago and one of them was Elysian Energy. They had a pay up front subscription type model. When they went bust the consumer being the lowest denominator creditor didn't receive anything.
Many other retailers went down too. Not saying these guys are in any trouble at all.

 

[jason66]

OVO Aus are a 50% joint venture between OVO UK & AGL. I'm hoping that makes them less likely of going broke.

 

[JayTee]

My understanding was that the 4,000kw cap/year relates to the Solar plans and not the EV plan. If anyone knows different would be great to confirm.
View attachment 966848

Thats correct, it does relate to the solar plan. But 4000kwh over a year is not much feed in, only around 11kw per day.
Its probably ok for people with smaller solar systems.

 

[James_B]

I've been on this plan with OVO for coming up to a month now. I was previously with Amber, which worked well generally for me as I could mainly charge from solar, particularly in the summer months, but we're about to get a Model Y in addition to my S, so needed more certainly around charging and the price.

I went for the 100% green power option, which adds a little under 5c/kwh to the price, but still came out a little cheaper than Amber based on my consumption from the last year.

 

[Max Spaghetti]

AGL has revamped their EV charging plan with a new offer called “Night Saver Energy Plan”. The benefit of this plan is an incredibly cheap 8c/kWh rate between midnight and 6am. You have to provide proof of EV ownership registered at the billing address to be eligible.

Wow, that AGL plan is heaps better than OVO in my area (Powercor).

OVO: 34c/12c (0000-0600)
AGL: 26c/8c (0000-0600)

Thank you for the heads up.

Interesting how distribution areas differ.

 

[Leeroy]

Wow, that AGL plan is heaps better than OVO in my area (Powercor).

OVO: 34c/12c (0000-0600)
AGL: 26c/8c (0000-0600)

Thank you for the heads up.

Interesting how distribution areas differ.

It’s criminal IMO how wildly they vary particularly in the same state. This is my ovo plan. I nearly spat my coffee out seeing the peak rate they charge others and that’s even in my own state. My peak of 0.28 is expensive for these parts as well, usually closer to 0.21 however the ev rate makes charging 2x EV’s a no brainer.

 

[AussieOwner]

I've been on this plan with OVO for coming up to a month now. I was previously with Amber, which worked well generally for me as I could mainly charge from solar, particularly in the summer months.

Im in the exact same situation.