Winter Cashback Term & Conditions

Demand Flexibility Service

We and our partners are working with the Electricity Systems Operator (“ESO“), the people who run the electricity network, to participate in the Demand Flexibility Service (“DFS”), where households come together to use less energy at certain times – and get rewarded for their efforts. While your home might only be a small drop in the ocean, every ocean is made up of many drops; so put enough of them together, and they soon add up. Further details about the scheme and its rules can be viewed on ESO’s website here.

HUGO users can participate between 1 November 2023 and 31 March 2024.

This means we will pay you to reduce your electricity demand during certain periods this winter (“Demand Events“), mainly between the hours of 4-9 p.m. when electricity demand peaks and grid carbon intensity levels are highest. Payments will vary, but we will try to estimate the payment for reducing each kWh that you would normally use. The expected value of the service will be around £3/kWh saved vs your normal consumption. For further details on the methodology and work examples, see here.

You don’t have to participate in each one but only the ones that you find suitable.

How does it work?

Press the SETTINGS button (top right) in HUGO, and there is a Winter Cashback Registration toggle button. You must turn on this button to participate in HUGO’s Winter Cashback scheme. Then, up to 24 hours before each Demand Event, we will notify you that a Winter Cashback period is starting. Then, in SETTINGS, there is a second toggle button called Winter Cashback Event. When you get this notification via email via the APP, the Winter Cashback Event button will activate and allow you to Opt-In to that Event. So, to participate in each Event, you must have both buttons activated.

Our notifications will advise you of the time of the Demand Event and give you plenty of time to decide to participate and activate the Winter Cashback Event. We will also try to send a reminder message just before the start of the Demand Event.

If you’re taking part, we will read your smart meter data to measure your normal historic consumption (“Baseline Consumption“), and track how much you reduce demand during times when ESO call on the service.

HUGO and/or its Partners will calculate your Baseline Consumption using the BSC P376 ‘Utilising a Baseline Methodology to set Physical Notifications’. This methodology looks at up to 10 days of your recent smart meter history, excluding days where a Session has taken place, to calculate your average consumption. See worked examples and further information here.

Once we know how much Winter Cashback you have accumulated, this credit will be added to the HUGO app for you to review in the CO2 section. You must reduce your demand by a minimum of 25% during a Demand Event to earn any Winter Cashback money.

If, for whatever reason, you don’t manage to reduce demand during the Demand Event, there are no penalties for not participating and no penalties for using more electricity during the Demand Event.

After each Demand Event, we and our partners will calculate how much you have reduced your Baseline Consumption by during the Demand Event. The results will appear in the running total in the HUGO GAMING icon section.

What can I do to reduce electricity demand during an event?

Here’s some great ideas for helping you get the most out of participating:

If you use an electric oven/cooker, why not cook your dinner a bit earlier or later, or use a slow cooker earlier in the day
Turn lights down / off and have a candle-lit dinner
Avoid using energy-intensive appliances such as tumble driers, washing machines and dishwashers during the event
If you have a heat pump or electric heating, turn down your thermostat a few degrees for an hour
If you have kids, get them off the TV and computer consoles for an hour and get some quality time back!
Don’t charge your electric car at this time.

Rule of Participation for HUGO’s Winter Cashback Scheme

General

These Terms and Conditions govern HUGO’s Winter Cashback Scheme (the “Scheme”). By entering the Scheme, you agree to be bound by the following Rules:

The trial will be run by HUGO TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED, a company registered in England and Wales with registered number 10551450 and registered office at 117a Blackbrook Lane, Bromley BR1 2LP (“HUGO”, “we”, “us”) and its Partner(s) who help HUGO administer the Scheme data with the National Grid ESO.

These Rules, together with any other rules notified by HUGO about this Scheme, are the Scheme rules (“Rules”) and are applicable to this Scheme. You are agreeing to be always bound by these Rules.

HUGO reserves the right to terminate, withdraw or amend the Scheme and/or the Rules without prior notice. Any changes will be updated on our website.

If there is any dispute regarding the Scheme or the Rules, the decision of HUGO shall be final. We reserve the right not to notify you about our final decision.

Scheme Participation:

Only HUGO’s app (www.hugoenergyapp.co.uk) users are eligible to sign up to HUGO and participate in the Scheme.

To be eligible for the Scheme, you must:

at all times comply with these Rules;
be a successfully registered user of HUGO app
have a working electricity smart meter which has been sending us 75% of smart meter reading for the past 3 weeks.
have at least a full day’s worth of half-hourly readings
register into the Winter Cashback Scheme by signing up by email or by turning on the Winter Cashback Registration toggle button in SETTINGS. Then opt in to the individual Demand Event by turning on the Winter Cashback Demand button in HUGO’s app SETTINGS.
not taking part in the Demand Flexibility Scheme or related schemes with another provider or supplier.
consent to HUGO providing your smart energy data and Baseload Profile to its partners to assess the outcome of the Demand Event

The Scheme starts on 1st November 2023 and will end on 31st March 2024 unless stated otherwise.

To partake, you must opt-in to the Demand Event before it begins and reduce your electricity demand from the grid by a minimum of 25% against your Baseload Profile as measured by us.

We will only register/count 1 Meter Point Administration Number (‘MPAN’) or 1 user per household. If two people register for the Winter Cashback scheme from the same household using the same MPAN number we will only pay 1 user and the second or additional users will be deleted from that Demand Event.

In the event that we’re unable to pull your meter readings to calculate your usage from any of the Sessions, we’ll work it out using an average across all Scheme participants. If at any point throughout the Scheme you are no longer eligible under Clause 7, we reserve the right to remove you from the Scheme.

If your smart meter is not working on at the time of the Demand Event or you no longer live at the address to which you registered with the HUGO app we reserve the right to remove you from the Scheme.

By entering the Scheme, you confirm that your information is up to date and accurate. Any you provide any fraudulent or incorrectly completed information or if HUGO has reasonable grounds to believe that you have breached any of the Rules, HUGO reserves the right to disqualify you from the Scheme.

HUGO will not be liable to reimburse any expenses incurred with entering the Scheme and will not be liable for any errors or omissions in its decision making or the decision making of its Partners. We will also deduct any money transfer fees or bank transfer fees from any money we send to you from the Winter Cashback money owed to you when the Scheme ends.

If at any point you wish to opt-out of the Scheme simply turn off the Winter Cashback Registration toggle button in the HUGO app SETTINGS.

If at any point you wish to opt-out of the event before the Demand Event simply turn off the Winter Cashback opt-in button in the HUGO app SETTINGS.

Data Protection and Publicity

HUGO’s privacy policy shall apply to any data collected in connection with this Scheme and can be found on our website.

HUGO and its Partners will share customers’ Meter Point Administration Numbers with National Grid ESO to register customers in the Scheme and allocate payment to individual customers. HUGO and its Partners will provide National Grid ESO with half hourly electricity consumption, baseline and reduction data, summed across all customers in each of the 14 GSP Groups, for the purposes of delivering the Scheme. In rare cases, National Grid ESO may request detailed half hourly data around the events to audit performance and payment, which may include consumption data on an individual customer basis. By entering the Scheme, you agree to your information being used as such.

HUGO in its sole discretion, reserves the right to withdraw or vary the Rules and/or any offer made in connection with them to comply with the decision of any relevant judicial or regulatory body and shall not be held liable to any entrant for doing so.