Power Hours Scheme Terms & Conditions

Reduce and Earn Power Hours Campaign ‘Reduce and Earn Sessions’ Terms & Conditions

Reduce and Earn Sessions (“RES”) is a Power Hours scheme campaign operated by Uswitch Limited (“Uswitch”), a company registered in England and Wales with registered number 03612689 and registered office at The Cooperage, 5 Copper Row, London, SE1 2LH.

By signing up to the RES campaign you are accepting these terms and conditions (“Terms”). These Terms are supplemental to the Power Hours Scheme Terms and Conditions which also apply to this campaign. 

Uswitch is working together with its partner Hildebrand Technology Limited (“Hildebrand”) (registered in England & Wales, company number: 05577050) to participate in the National Energy System Operator (“NESO”) Demand Flexibility Service (“DFS”). This service is designed to reward households that are able to reduce their electricity usage during peak hours on certain days, with the aim of helping balance electricity loads on the electricity grid. More details about the DFS are available on the NESO website here.

Members of Uswitch’s Power Hours scheme (“Members” or “you”) who are enrolled in the RES campaign can choose to take part in all DFS sessions (“Sessions”) that take place from 1 December 2024 until the DFS ends in line with the duration specified by NESO. Members will be alerted before a Session is due to take place.

Members will need to individually opt in to each Session they want to participate in before they start. During the Sessions, Members are encouraged to reduce their electricity usage as much as possible, whilst still keeping safe. Tips on which appliances use the most electricity can be found in the Save tab on the Uswitch app.

Members can earn money for every kWh of electricity they manage to reduce during each Session, compared to their typical usage. The specific amount per kWh for a Session will be communicated before Members choose to opt in to a session. Your typical usage will be calculated using an industry standard methodology called BSC P376 (more details can be found here), using historic electricity smart meter readings from your property.

There is no obligation to reduce your usage by a certain percentage, and if you end up using more than your typical usage during a Session there is no penalty.

How to participate

When they sign up to the Power Hours scheme, new Members will be automatically enrolled in the RES campaign if they are eligible. Existing eligible Members that have previously opted out of, or have been unable to enrol in the RES campaign, will be able to enrol by activating the RES campaign within the Uswitch app (“App”).

Once enrolled, Members will then need to opt into each Session they want to participate in. 

Members will be notified before a Session is due to take place via both push notifications and email (as applicable if you have enabled push notifications on the App) and encouraged to opt in. Such notifications may arrive on the same day as the Session.

After a Session has finished, your earnings will be calculated by Uswitch and you will be notified once these are ready to view. We will aim to share these roughly 48 hours after a Session concludes, however it may take up to several weeks to confirm your earnings and share these with you. If we are unable to obtain any electricity smart meter readings from a Session, we reserve the right to offer you the average amount earned by other Members during the same Session.

If NESO’s eventual calculations from a Session differ from those provided to a Member by Uswitch, Uswitch will not change the amount of the Member’s earnings.

Any money you earn through the RES campaign will initially show as ‘Pending’ in your App Earn Tab. At the end of each calendar month your earnings will move into ‘Available earnings’ and can be withdrawn in accordance with the Uswitch App Earn Tab Terms and Conditions, which can be found here: https://www.uswitch.com/about-us/terms-of-use/#uswitch-app-earn-tab-terms-and-conditions-earn-tab-terms 

If you wish to opt out of the RES campaign at any point, you can do so via the link at the bottom of the RES campaign screen in the App.

To be eligible for the RES campaign you need to meet the criteria listed above for the Power Hours scheme as well as the following criteria:

• You must not sign up to an equivalent demand flexibility scheme with another provider while you are signed up to the RES campaign, otherwise you will be automatically excluded from participating in any future Sessions until you have opted out of all other demand flexibility schemes. This is because NESO only lets users participate in one scheme at a time;
• You acknowledge Uswitch will provide the necessary smart meter energy data to its partners to assess the outcome of each Session;
• You will need to have at least 60 days’ worth of historical smart meter data available for your typical baseline usage to be calculated, according to BSC P376.

Uswitch (via our partner and data processor Hildebrand) will share your smart meter MPAN number, half hourly electricity consumption, baseline and reduction data with NESO. This is necessary in order to provide this campaign to you. NESO may request (for auditing purposes) detailed half hourly data for a specific Session, which may include your consumption data. By participating in the RES campaign you acknowledge and agree to your information being used in this manner.

Uswitch reserves the right to terminate, withdraw or amend the RES campaign or these Terms, including (amongst other aspects) the payment/kWh of reduced usage and/or the eligibility criteria, without prior notice.