Become a winner with the new electricity tariffs

The winds of change are blowing in the electricity market. Ellevio, one of Sweden's largest electricity network companies, will introduce power tariffs at the turn of the year for half a million customers. The measure, which involves increased network charges, has sparked fears of skyrocketing electricity bills among Swedish consumers. 

But instead of doom and gloom, this is actually a great opportunity to take control of your electricity bill. And that's also part of the point.

This is how power tariffs work

First, let's find out how power tariffs work. Power is the amount of electricity used at one time during the hours of the day. In general, most electricity is used in the morning and evening, for example when the majority of people are charging their car, running the washing machine and cooking at the same time. During peak consumption hours, the power grid is forced to work very hard, which can lead to problems. And as society switches from fossil fuels to renewables, the pressure on the electricity grid increases further. So, what to do? One way is to balance the load on the electricity grid. And that's where you as a consumer can make a difference - and save money - by, for example, charging your car and putting on the dishwasher during hours when the load is lower. 

Expensive to continue as usual

Ellevio’s power tariff will be based on an average of a customer's three highest consumption hours per month. And in order to encourage people to adjust their electricity usage to times when the load is lower, the provider will half the grid fee price between 22.00 and 06.00. 

An electric car owner who charges his car during the day with high power creates a consumption 'high' of approximately 12-13 kW. According to Ellevio's new power tariff, this means that you would have to pay approximately SEK 1,421 in electricity grid fees alone - and that excludes the cost of the electricity itself. If you instead charge during the night, the electricity grid fee will be approximately SEK 893. That's a difference of more than SEK 500 every month, explains Tobias Aspenberg, Product Director at Tibber.

Electric car customers are a group that risks significantly higher electricity grid fees with the new tariffs, but realistically, all home owners will have to adjust their electricity consumption. Only running the washing machine, dryer and stove at the same time can create a power peak that can cost several hundred Swedish kroner extra every month.

Keep track of power alarms

One way to avoid the high power tariffs is to use a real-time meter that can measure, monitor and help re-direct your household's electricity consumption. Tibber’s solution to this is the Pulse, available in all markets, and the newly launched Pulse CT, available in Sweden only, which have unique "power alarms" that warn you if you are about to consume irregularly high amounts of electricity. 

In certain situations, it can also redirect electricity consumption to reduce power tariffs. 

“One problem is that many consumers have a poor grasp of what consumes a lot of electricity and what doesn’t,” says Aspenberg. “This is where the real-time meter plays a central role, partly because you as a consumer must understand what consumes a lot of electricity, partly by getting a 'warning' when you are about to create a consumption 'high'. If you are an electric car owner, you will sometimes need to charge your electric car during the day, that's all. Then a real-time meter can help you do it in a smart way, by leveling out your consumption and thus reducing your peak consumption hours.”

It can be this much more expensive for electric car and house owners 

All examples are designed for a house with a fuse of 25A. The fixed monthly fee for Ellevio is SEK 365. In addition, you pay a power tariff of SEK 81.25 per kWh. This power tariff is halved between 22.00 and 06.00

An electric car and home owner who starts their hot air oven (about 2 kW), washing machine (2 kW), dryer (2 kW) and charges their electric car (9 kW) at the same time will have consumed 15 kW during one hour. According to the new power tariff, that power peak will cost the home owner SEK 1,584 (15kW X 81.25 = SEK 1,219, plus the fixed monthly fee of SEK 365).

If, instead, the electricity consumption were to be changed to 23.00, when you only pay half the price for the effect, the cost would be significantly lower (not including the effect for the hot air oven, which is difficult to move).

Washing machine, dryer and electric car charging together consume 13 kW, which according to the new tariff will cost the home owner around SEK 893 (13 kW X 40.62 = SEK 528, plus the fixed monthly fee of SEK 365).

So always remember to charge smart and shift consumption if you can!