What is the best tariff for optimisation and savings?

Tariffs vary between suppliers, regions and smart meter connectivity. But in general, if someone's import and export tariffs vary throughout the day(s), there is more pricing variation for optimisation to take advantage of.

The average consumer can expect to see greater savings with dynamic or multi-rate tariffs than with a single-rate tariff.

Why are dynamic tariffs a good choice for optimisation savings? 

Dynamic tariffs are ideal to maximise optimisation savings. These are tariffs that offer a different price per unit of energy depending on the time of day. This also means that times and rates typically change from day to day. Prices are decided close to the real-time consumption of electricity and are based on wholesale electricity prices. Negative pricing can also be an element of these tariffs, where consumers are paid to use electricity, or are charged to export from their solar panels or battery. 

Optimisation uses these price changes to decide when to charge batteries or to control exports to the grid. The more price fluctuations and time windows available, the more optimisation can plan and take actions to maximise a consumer's earnings. 

Multi-rate tariffs 

Multi-rate tariffs, or static time of use tariffs, also have a pricing structure that varies the cost or price of electricity depending on the time of day. This means that prices can vary between peak and off-peak hours. 

Peak hours usually occur during periods of high energy demand. Such as weekday evenings when people come home, and appliances are in heavy use. During these times, electricity prices under a time-of-use tariff may be higher than standard rates to reflect the increased demand on the grid. Conversely, off-peak hours, which usually occur late at night or early in the morning when demand is lower, often feature lower electricity rates.

These price points and time blocks associated with them are often fixed long in advance and are regular. Optimisation can make decisions about the battery across these peak and off-peak hours to generate savings. These savings can still be as significant as a dynamic tariff, and are good for consumers looking for savings who would like more control of their tariff rates and hours. 

Many EV tariffs offer excellent overnight rates, which, combined with Flex's smart charging, can provide significant savings.

Single-rate tariffs

Having a single, or 1-rate import and export rate (i.e. the rates are the same all day, every day) means there aren't the same windows of opportunity for creating additional savings from solar panels and a battery through optimisation. Optimisation relies on charging the battery from the grid when it's cheap, and discharging it to the grid when it is expensive. 

If a consumer has a single-rate tariff, they can still optimise, but the savings benefits will be limited compared to dynamic or multi-rate tariffs. 

You will be able to see the tariff rate a consumer is on within business tools - search their email or consumer ID to find out what tariff type they are on.