Off-Peak Heat 19 offers lower heating rates for 19 hours a day and higher rates during the five busiest hours of the day, encouraging customers to use power when demand is lower.
With some 400 homes switching to electric heating each year, the scheme is designed to reduce pressure on the network during winter evening peaks, cutting the need for infrastructure investment and reducing reliance on fossil-fuel generation.
The utility said the new tariff supported Guernsey’s long-term decarbonisation ambitions and was intended for heating systems that can automatically make use of lower cost, off-peak electricity on a two-rate tariff.
‘Electric heating that demands power immediately to heat a property uses a huge amount of power at peak times. By rewarding customers who store or use heat during off-peak hours, when power is cheaper to supply, we can make better use of Guernsey’s existing network,’ said Kenrick Brooks, head of sales and solutions.
‘While we continue to invest millions on the grid, reducing peak demand means we won’t need to build as much extra capacity to meet the short bursts of peak demand. This helps keep costs, and ultimately customer bills, lower than they otherwise would be.’
Jon Sexton, head of engineering and design, added: ‘The real test for any electricity network isn’t an average day. It’s the stress placed on the system in the busiest few hours of the year. In Guernsey, that’s usually on winter evenings when people arrive home. Electricity demand peaks between 4pm and 8pm, making this the most resource-intensive and expensive period to supply power.’
Customers on this new tariff will shift enough power to heat an entire home – between 5kW and 8kW – away from peak periods each day.
To help facilitate some of the States of Guernsey’s long-term decarbonisation targets, Off Peak Heat 19 is designed to work with heating systems that automatically make use of off-peak, lower-cost electricity and a two-rate tariff. This means most standard electric flow boilers currently on the Superheat tariff should not switch to this new tariff.
However, anyone due to replace an existing electric boiler could choose a compatible off-peak heating system and then move onto the new tariff.
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