Origin Energy’s new EV Energy Plan offers free energy between 10am-3pm every day [Update]

Update
Since my post went live, the registration link has been pulled. Shortly after, I found the following email from Origin Energy in my inbox. It looks like someone at Origin hit the go-live button early. Sorry Origin, I’m not removing the story, I think the plan is a good one, you just need to send it live already.

Selecting the right energy plan for your home can be difficult, but Origin has a new plan called the 360 EV Energy Plan that may be right for you.

This plan is firmly targeted at EV owners and actually requires vehicle registration validation on signup.

Origin is offering free power for 5 hours, between the hours of 10am and 3pm, every day. The idea here is to encourage people to charge their vehicles during the peak renewable time, in the middle of the day.

This presents a challenge for those who work 8am-5pm on weekdays, as your car won’t be at home during these hours to take advantage of this free power. It is important to keep in mind that this includes the weekend, where you may be more likely to be at home during those 10 hours and this may deliver enough charge to get you through the week.

For those EV owners that work from home, this would be a perfect plan for you.

Origin 360 EV Energy Plan details

• Five hours of free energy for your home every day
• Add up to 200 km in range (charging rates vary)
• Charge during the day when more renewables are available to support the grid
• Help support government-accredited renewable projects in Australia by adding Origin GreenPower
• Daily Supply Charge – $1.20 per day
• Peak Usage (6am-10am, 3pm-1am) – 28 cents/kWh
• Off Peak Usage (1am-6am) – 18 cents/kWh

It probably goes without saying but the free energy is not just for your EV to charge, but rather 5 hours of free energy for your home every day. This is subject to the fair-use policy as detailed below.

For those with solar panels on the roof, the solar feed-in tarrif is usually very important to take into consideration when selecting an energy plan and in this instance, they’re offering a 6.00 c/kWh solar feed-in tariff. The minimum rate currently is 5.2c/kWh according to the ESC (VIC) with a decision due in late February on the 23/24 rate.

It is worth noting that for these 5 hours per day, solar customers would still receive the feed-in tarrif, despite being charged nothing for power.

Personally, the charges on this plan are better than my current Orgin plan in almost every way, a lower peak and off-peak rate, a lower daily supply charge and the benefit of the free 5hrs of power per day. The only exception is a lower feed-in tariff of 6c rather than 10, but that is due to end in April, and would likely drop to 6c anyway.

To be honest, even the off-peak rate shown as ‘discounted charging rate’ below isn’t bad at 18c/kWh so if you needed a top-up, just schedule your car to charge during this house if the middle of the day doesn’t work for you.

Benefits

Electricity consumed between the hours of 10am – 3pm every day of the week will be free (subject to the Fair Use Policy (described below).

A time of use tariff with different usage charges at different times of the day as set out in the Details section for hours outside of the free energy hours.

The feed-in tariff as set out in the Details section for any electricity your solar PV system exports to the grid.

The Terms and Conditions for Victorian Feed-in Tariffs available at www.originenergy.com.au/vicfitterms applies to both the additional feed-in tariff and standard retailer feed-in tariff.

Eligibility Requirements

You must have an electric vehicle that is registered in your name and at the same address as your Supply Address for electricity. In order to verify you own an electric vehicle, you must provide your vehicle registration number, vehicle make and model at the time of signing up to the Energy Plan.

A smart/digital meter is required to access this Energy Plan. Origin can help arrange a meter upgrade if you don’t have one already.

You must ensure that the Supply Address complies with electricity standards required by law prior to the Supply Start Date. If the Supply Address does not comply with electricity standards required by law, you must arrange (at your cost) for a qualified electrician to rectify the fault(s). The type of works that an electrician may need to carry out to ensure that the Supply Address is compliant, may include, but is not limited to, the following: rectifying inadequate existing electrical supply; installing a safety switch; upgrading a switchboard; or upgrading of meter panel board.

Fair Use Policy

This Energy Plan includes this Fair Use Policy. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all customers taking up this Energy Plan do not use the energy we supply to them under this Energy Plan between the hours of 10am – 3pm daily in a manner that we consider excessive or unreasonable.

We consider your use to be excessive where there is a substantial increase in your energy usage between the hours of 10am – 3pm daily compared to what we would consider reasonable for a similar residential household in your distribution zone with an EV.

Here’s where things get tricky. Imagine you’re like an increasing number of Australian households that have not one, but two EVs in the garage. Would charging them both the same time be considered an outsized amount of energy during this time? I’d certainly argue that this will quickly become a normal scenario.

There’s also a big difference in the number of kilometres you could add to a car between charging with a regular wall charger (around 11km/hr on a single phase) and someone using a high-performance wall charger on 3-phase power (up to 75km in the Model Y). I guess we’ll only find out over time.

Origin says they consider it unreasonable where you otherwise use the energy we supply fraudulently, or intentionally use it contrary to energy laws. I expect putting a charger out the front of your house and adding your place to plugshare so the public can use it between 10am and 3pm is probably an example of what they’re talking about here.

It is your responsibility to monitor your use in order to ensure that it complies with this Fair Use Policy.

This Fair Use Policy does not limit other rights we may have to end this Energy Plan or disconnect your energy supply under this Agreement or the Regulatory Requirements.

To register your interest, or to get more information, head over to Origin Energy – https://www.originenergy.com.au/electric-vehicles/energy-plan/