Dynamic Electricity Pricing

Introduction

Netzero enables dynamic electricity pricing (also known as dynamic tariffs, day-ahead pricing, or wholesale pricing). These utility plans have pricing that reflects the variation in wholesale electricity costs due to changes in supply and demand. The prices change frequently (as frequently as every 5 minutes) and are usually forecast for the next 24 hours.

Powerwall uses the utility rate plan to optimize its Savings mode. Netzero adds the ability to automatically update dynamic tariffs (based on the published prices), thus ensuring optimal Savings mode.

By shifting usage based on dynamic pricing (e.g. reducing usage during expensive peaks), users can save on electricity costs. A Powerwall system in combination with accurate rate plans is a great way to achieve that goal!

Supported Plans

Netzero currently supports the following plans:

• Agile Octopus (Octopus Energy, UK)
• Note: all Octopus Energy tariffs are supported. Tariffs other than Agile do not require frequent updates, but Netzero can still make sure the tariffs are up to date based on your Octopus account data.
• Tibber (Sweden, Norway, Germany & the Netherlands)
• ENTSO-E (European network covering wholesale pricing for most countries in Europe)
• Amber Electric (Australia)
• ComEd Hourly Pricing (ComEd, Illinois, US)
• Ameren Power Smart Pricing (Ameren, Illinois, US)

If you are in a region with a supported provider, you will see a Settings > Utility Rate Plan option in the menu. Automatic rate plan updates require a Netzero subscription.

Negative prices are supported. A negative import price is passed on to the Powerwall, and electricity price automations can use thresholds below zero.

Agile Octopus Configuration

If you’re currently on an Agile Octopus plan (or any other Octopus Energy tariff), enter your Octopus API key and account number. Netzero will automatically detect your tariff. Check the Auto update rate plan checkbox. This will result in a few changes:

• Your prior tariff configuration will be overridden. Make sure to separately store your existing rate plan if you created it manually and might need it in the future.
• Your new tariff configuration will reflect the current pricing schedule. You can confirm the pricing of Agile using the Agile Dashboard.
• As new tariffs are announced (usually around 4 PM), the tariff configuration will be automatically updated. You do not need to keep the app open for that.

Note: for plans with fixed outgoing (sell) prices, the sell prices sent to the Powerwall are capped so that they never exceed the buy prices (and never go below zero when the buy price is negative). This results in better Powerwall behavior (more charging and discharging when required), due to a limitation in Tesla’s Savings mode algorithm. Prices and costs shown in the app use the real, uncapped sell prices.

Tibber and Amber Electric Configuration

Tibber and Amber Electric plans can be configured by providing your API token from the provider. Follow the instructions in the app.

For Tibber, the price includes taxes by default. If your Tibber prices are quoted before tax, turn off Include taxes and enter the tax rate to add on top of the import price.

ENTSO-E Configuration

ENTSO-E covers wholesale day-ahead prices for most European countries. Select your bidding zone, then enter the fixed surcharges and taxes your supplier adds on top of the wholesale price, and your fixed export price if you have one. Both hourly and 15-minute prices are supported.

ComEd Hourly Pricing and Ameren Power Smart Pricing

ComEd Hourly Pricing and Ameren Power Smart Pricing do not require any configuration, just turning on automatic updates. PJM day-ahead prices will be used for the forecast, and the ComEd Current Hour Average will be used to update the real-time price for the current hour.

ComEd customers enrolled in Delivery Time-of-Day (DTOD) pricing can select their DTOD delivery rate, which replaces the flat delivery charge with time-of-day delivery rates in the plan sent to the Powerwall.

Notes

• Tesla allows a limited number of slots for configuring tariffs, which can only be set for a 24-hour period. As a result, slots corresponding to times that have already passed today are filled with tomorrow’s prices, while future slots for today will contain the correct prices. For example, if checking pricing at noon, prices from noon to midnight will reflect today’s prices, while prices from midnight to 11:59 AM will reflect tomorrow’s prices. This approach gives the Powerwall a broader view of future pricing, enabling better decisions for charging and discharging.

• Prices from the configured provider are also used in the app’s price charts and in the Energy Cost section, so costs reflect the actual dynamic prices rather than a flat rate.

• Each update sends a “Tariffs Updated” notification. To turn these off, disable Utility rate plan updates under Settings > Notifications. Alerts about failing updates are still sent.

• While a Powerwall grid export is running, rate plan updates are deferred until the export ends.

Disabling Automatic Updates

If you wish to stop updating your dynamic tariffs, uncheck the Auto update rate plan checkbox under Settings > Utility Rate Plan. Make sure to also configure a new fixed rate plan with the Tesla app: Settings > Utility Rate Plan > Change Rate Plan (at the bottom).