Back in February, I posted about Origin Energy’s new EV energy plan that was posted on their website. This plan was unique, in that it offered free charging for 5 hours per day, between the hours of 10am and 3pm (when most of their power is being generated cheaply from renewables).
With a couple of EVs in the garage, I jumped on it and registered for the plan, then shared it, so many others could also take advantage of it.
Unfortunately, Origin decided to revise the plan before it was officially released, removing many of the original benefits.
I’m happy to confirm that Origin Energy has decided to honour the original plan for those that were quick and registered before the registration link was ultimately pulled. As one of those customers, I received a phone call from an Origin representative who explained I could get the plan.
I’ve been on the Origin 360 EV plan for just over a month now and that leaves around 11 months remaining, ending on 25 April 2024. Since then, I’ve had a number of other customers who registered after the original post, reach out to me and confirm they were also able to connect on the plan.
While the plan title (and promotion) targeted EV owners, the reality is, there no way to make only charging GPOs in your garage free, and knowing that, I understood this meant they were actually providing free power for your whole household during these hours.
There is effectively a fair use policy (sorry crypto miners), which means you can’t go crazy, but as I understand it, you could easily have your normal daily use (TVs, lighting, heater, cooking etc), along with a couple of EVs charging in the garage for $0 between 10am and 3pm.
An energy plan runs across 24 hours a day, so what about the energy prices outside this window?
The Origin 360 EV Energy Plan also offers a great off-peak price of just 18.000 c/kWh, and even the Peak price of 28.000 c/kWh is significantly less than the 40.810 c/kWh I was paying previously. Even the Daily Supply charge dropped for us, from 129.940 to 120.000 c/day.
This means, at least for us, the Origin 360 EV plan was better in every way but one.. the Solar Feed-in Tariff. Our FiT dropped to 6.00c/kWh, down from 10.00c/kWh. The Essential Services Commission currently lists the minimum Victorian feed-in tariff as 5.2 c/kWh until June 30, 2023, at which point it will drop again to 4.9 c/kWh.
Despite the reduction in FiT from the solar energy we create and send back to the grid, having free power for the majority of our solar generating hours, far exceeds the dollars we would have earned in credits.
This plan will prove to be even more beneficial over the coming months with recent reports that energy prices are set to rise by as much as 25% from July 1st.
If you’re not already, you should consider optimising your energy use and running optional appliances like the washing machine, dishwasher etc at the time of the day when your power is the cheapest.
Our next power bill is due on June 6th, at which point I’ll update this post with the result of being on the new EV plan.. I’m expecting a significant reduction in energy prices, showcasing how great this plan really is for everyone, but specifically those households with one or more EVs in the garage.
I really hope Origin will reconsider offering this in the future to more customers.
You can check out Origin Energy’s current EV plan options here, or information on solar panels and batteries here.
Ive been on this plan for a month now too. I love that I can charge at 32A regardless of how much Solar I’m generating. We also have our dryer and coffee machine on timers to turn on at 10AM with the free power.
Do you still get your full FiT or do you use your solar first then any excess is FiT
Did you also have Origin install one of their $2700 chargers?
Thankfully not, this is one of the changes they made after the original plan and before they released it, making it far less compelling for those who already have EVs and charging sorted.