To celebrate the launch of PowerUp, the first energy plan in the UK that allows customers to buy ‘days’ of energy, ScottishPower is offering Christmas Day for free to any customer who is signed-up to the tariff when the big day arrives.

After a successful launch to existing ScottishPower customers in September, the model has now opened up to new customers for the first time, with some of the most competitive prices available in the UK.

Christmas Day typically remains the most expensive day of the year for consuming energy at home as more power-reliant gifts are exchanged and plugged in for those first few hours of charging.

Other Christmas rituals such as having the oven and hob on all day, kettles boiling repeatedly, dishwashers doing multiple runs, heating the house for longer and all those decorations and lights inside and out, add to the costs.

Despite the growing number of smart phones, tablets, consoles and gadgets in homes across the UK, the good news is that generally overall UK household consumption is coming down. More and more people are taking steps to reduce how much they use, from switching to energy saving lightbulbs and LED lights to better insulation.

The average UK home supplied by ScottishPower uses energy to the value of around £2.96 per day, although this can be higher in the winter months.²

Surveying customer consumption data, ScottishPower estimates the cost of energy on Christmas Day to be about £5.¹

This includes having the TV, satellite box and soundbar running for around 12 hours (26p); a new mobile phone being fully charged (4p); a new laptop switched on for 10 hours (7p); two sets of Christmas tree lights (13p); a new small TV in a kids room (4p); 8 full kettle boils (13p); an electric oven on for around 6 hours (£1.17), hobs and other cooking appliances running for around 6-8 hours (£1.26) with the remainder attributable to other general household use energy use including lighting and heating.³

With this in mind, every PowerUp customer will receive a £5 credit to their account – effectively giving them their Christmas Day’s energy usage free of charge.

PowerUp launched in September 2016 after ScottishPower reviewed feedback from its customers calling for more transparency, simpler billing and greater convenience when it comes to understanding and managing their energy use.

Neil Clitheroe, Global Retail Director at ScottishPower, said: “We want our customers to have even more control of over the energy they use, and how much they spend on their energy costs. PowerUp can let them do that. Much like filling up a car with petrol, we don’t tend to think about the litres in the tank – instead we think how much it has cost and how long it will last and we know that if we travel a bit further or faster than usual, that it will last a bit less than usual. That’s how PowerUp works for gas and electricity at home.

“This truly is the start of the age of personalised tariffs, and uses real consumption data to calculate a personal daily price. We believe it will encourage customers to be more conscious of their energy usage, because they will want to make their days of energy last longer.”

He added: “Feedback from our existing customers who have switched to PowerUp has been hugely positive and we’re delighted to now be able to open it up to everyone. This Christmas is likely to be one of the biggest days of the year for energy consumption for most people, and we want to give our PowerUp customers an early present by giving them their Christmas Day energy on us.”

With PowerUp, customers will be able to better manage their usage and how much they spend on their energy costs.

PowerUp allows energy to be bought in packages from one day up to 180 days, upfront and at a set price with no standing charge.

Current prices are as follows;

* Full PowerUp Christmas Payment terms and conditions apply.
* Full PowerUp tariff terms and conditions apply.

Notes to Editors:

PowerUp: buy, track, save. How it works:

• Customers can buy ‘days’ of gas and electricity via the PowerUp mobile app - from one to 180 days.
• ‘Days’ are based on a personalised forecast of how much energy an individual customer requires. ScottishPower uses detailed consumption history to calculate daily usage based on the time of the year.
• There is no ‘standing charge’ for customers paying via PowerUp.
• Customers can track how much energy they have used, to see when they next need to PowerUp. Customers can view past and estimated forecast consumption to help them better understand their energy spend.
• The PowerUp app is available for download for iPhone, iPad and Android

Eligibility

1. The PowerUp Christmas Payment (“Christmas Payment”) is a credit of £2 added to a PowerUp customer’s electricity account and a £3 credit to their gas account. Customers with only one fuel will receive a £5 payment for that applicable fuel.
2. To be eligible for the PowerUp Christmas Payment customers must be on the PowerUp Variable Tariff (“PowerUp”) as at the 20th December 2016 or have applied to join PowerUp on or before the 20th December 2016 and come on supply on PowerUp by the 20th January 2017 ("Qualifying Customer"). Qualifying customers must also be on PowerUp at the point when the Christmas Payment is made.
3. The Christmas Payment will be applied automatically to Qualifying Customers between the 21st Dec 2016 and the 21st Jan 2017 dependent upon when the customer comes on supply.
4. Once the Qualifying Customer account(s) have been credited the Qualifying Customer can use the credit towards their purchase any PowerUp package.
5. ScottishPower reserves the right to withdraw the Christmas Payment at its discretion.
6. ScottishPower reserves the right to refuse to award the Christmas Payment to any Qualifying Customer in breach of these or the PowerUp and/or PowerUp Package Terms and Conditions
7. Qualifying Customers are deemed to have accepted and agreed to be bound by these Terms and Conditions upon acceptance of the Christmas Payment as outlined above.
8. PowerUp Terms and Conditions apply.
9. Full T&Cs available at www.scottishpower.co.uk/xmasgift
    

¹ Based on forecasted typical PowerUp customer energy consumption and current PowerUp Package prices as at 1st December 2016. Includes VAT at current applicable rate of 5%.
² Based on daily average consumption for OFGEM typical annual consumption of 12,500kWh gas and 3,100kWh electricity, based on a customer paying by monthly Direct Debit on ScottishPower Standard Variable tariff as at (insert date). Includes VAT at current applicable rate of 5%.
³ Approximate usage figures based average appliance consumption priced using ScottishPower current standard Direct Debit price including VAT of 13.084p.