Glitch? Points calculated wrong?
Amber Lamb
Kern CountyMember Posts: 27
I feel these points are low given I am platinum and on 110% bonus for my streak. I know they have said what they pay depends on lots of things, so how do you know if it is correct or not? I saved over 1kwh in this last ohm hour. I noticed when they assigned the points there must have been a glitch because it said I was down to gold level, which was incorrect, maybe the points were assigned then?
Best Answer
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UkiwiS
San DiegoMember, Moderator Posts: 1,625
@Philip Childs said:
I wish that OC would post the formula, so we can understand, how that calculate our status level.
I wonder what OC would do, if I dumped 8 kW from my EV batteries into the grid during the next OhmHour? Would they pay up or would they screw me somehow?The formula is pretty well known. Your average savings as a percentage over your forecast over the last 20 OhmHours determines your "Status" level. 20% saving and Status = Gold. 40% saving and Status = Platinum. From there Gold = 2 X Multiplier and Platinum = 4 X Multipler. For now you might have to ignore the fact that the dashboard percentage saving might not be accurate...I'm sure they are working to fix that because the calcs at the moment make no sense. The streak bonus is added on and here's the formula.
TOTAL_points = BASE_points X (Multiplier + Bonus/100)
Have you looked at your CSV download to see how the points are broken down?
It will show you the "Points", "Base points", "Streak Bonus" and "Status Level Bonus". The "Points" is a sum of the other three. If you are Gold your "Status Level Bonus" will be 1 X the "Base Points" if you're Platinum it will be 3 X. (This might look confusing...they are paying you the Base points already so 1+1=2X Multiplier and 1+3=4X Multiplier)
If you have the ability to send from your EV back to the grid, you will of course be saving a bundle and I don't see why you wouldn't be paid for it. I highly doubt that you can do V2G (vehicle to grid) but if you can, please try it and report back.
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Answers
I had 4 outstanding OhmHours and all were now updated. My status was not affected (platinum throughout). However in my case the last #OhmHour correctly reported the usage but as you can see from the image awarded 0 points.
@KarenE, I'm glad to hear the TBD issue was finally resolved! From what I've gathered, this latest points issue may be a separate bug. I think your experience is probably what other folks can expect, though--things are a little buggy, but you'll receive the appropriate points after the issues are resolved.
Hi everyone! This is Matt, the CEO, and we apologize for all of the issues we have had recently with points. We have had a number of hiccups from the data side from some of the utilities, with the prime culprit being SCE. Regarding the SCE data issues on 5/21 and 5/22, we have recently seen a fix for about half of our users, but the other half of our users are still in the dark with how much energy they used (no pun intended). This issue is much larger than just the 5/21 and 5/22 issue as it affects baseline calculations for the next 10 days. Therefore, any #OhmHour you received between 5/21 and 6/5 is subject to a TBD until SCE completes its sending of the data.
Outside of the SCE data issue, we do have a couple of additional outstanding issues that are being worked on:
Hope this provides some context! Please bear with us as we work through these issues!
Thanks so much for the info, @Matt D, and a post we can link people to!
The 0 points #OhmHour I had for 6/9 has now been updated to reflect the correct points total and the issue with SCE data seems to be resolved for me at least‚ with all my #OhmHours now current including the yesterday night.
With the new multipliers for levels the payout on the #OhmHours has really increased for me and as far as I can see will be of great benefit to users
@Amber Lamb
Did you contact Support?
@Philip Childs Did you mean 40% and 80% instead of 0.4 kWh and 0.8 kWh?
I guess it is only for low volume users during OhmHours. If I used no electricity, during all OhmHours, I still might not meet the new .8 kWh requirement.
Also, they went back and took away points for previous OhmHours, back to the last time I cashed out. I wish I had cashed out yesterday!
Matt, please, post the real requirements for Platinum and give me back my Platinum points, for all OhmHours before the rules are officially posted.
Everytime I login and see 40% for Platinum, I get angry. I have saved 67% and am being held at Gold, until I can save more electricity than I use.
Anybody else have issues with points on June 16? We unplugged everything as usual and did not use any appliances.....etc and yet my usage was recorded higher than it has ever been. This makes no sense. Now my streak of 36 has ended. Confused.
@Philip Childs, that's pretty interesting. Where do you live? My best guess is that OhmConnect is still trying to figure out the best way to design the various status levels so that they can balance their need to keep people interested and their need to remain solvent as a company. They may have randomly selected some users to test different strategies--that's something they do from time to time. The system you appear to be on definitely doesn't seem advantageous if you're a low-energy user (like I am), but it could actually be preferable for folks like @UkiwiS who often have very high forecasts. For high energy users, 0.8 kWh might actually represent a smaller reduction than 40% of their forecast. I do think OhmConnect dropped the ball if they put you on a different incentive system than everyone else without sending you an email or message explaining the plan. It's frustrating when changes that affect everyone aren't communicated clearly, and even more frustrating when systems are explained clearly on OhmConnect's website but don't apply to your individual account.
@KATHLEEN KELLEY, wow, I'm impressed that you got your results back that quickly! I did have an event on the 16th, but they're still TBD.
An easy way to check whether a mistake was made with your usage is to download your green button data directly from your utility and make sure that it matches what OhmConnect shows. It's technically possible that your meter is faulty or that something was messed up in the data transfer, but I think it's more likely that something was accidentally left on. Either way, you should be able to track down the issue with a little investigating.
@KATHLEEN KELLEY @WaterGuy
I got the results for the June 16th #OhmHour yesterday‚ my results tend to be posted around 5 PM. The day after an #OhmHour I can typically see the data on my SCE account and I like to view that data to give me a rough idea of how well we did in saving power over our projection. Ever since the trouble with my SCE account was resolved‚ the results seem to be posting the next day. I guess that OhmConnect post the results as soon as they have the data to process‚ so it is all dependent on how quickly the provider gets the data to them.
I also had a problem of results for 6/16. I received my results for the OHM Hour for 6/16/17, 7-8 p.m. and the results are not correct. It shows that I used .363 kWh and went over my expected usage and lost 100 points. I had everything turned off and had flipped all the breakers except for 2 (outlets) and nothing that was plugged in was turned on. (I have done this same thing for the last 3 OHM Hours and my useage was .01 kWh). Now it has set my personal record of 23 in a row to zero! I have logged into my SCE account and it does not show the results yet for that date so I am not sure where OHM is getting their information. HELP! I tried to use the Contact Us link and am not able to send an email. I need to have this corrected and get my Personal Record back up to what it should be and get the proper results recorded for this date.
Unfortunately it's unlikely anyone here can help you. I recommend you send OhmConnect an email.
Thanks. Do you happen to have a valid email addy for them? When I tried their Contact Us link I was having problems with it.
Hi @[email protected]. I know that [email protected] is a valid email address--it may not be the correct one, but whoever answers should be able to point you to the correct place.
@Matt D or @curtistongue, do you have any updates about the status issue for solar users? My percentage savings number changed on Friday, but it's still incorrect by the math, and I'm hoping that change isn't reflective of the final calculation. The percentage actually changed shortly after I used my tokens to purchase the Baseline Boost card for Friday's OhmHour--I assumed I would have Platinum status for the event, based on my past 20 events, and I would have saved the card otherwise.
Thanks for your help!
The math on mine seems to be off too. I really wish they would test this stuff properly. Its also made a right mess of my points history as it looks like they've attempted to recalculate everything.
An update on this: I was a little surprised to see that while my status calculation still doesn't reflect what I believe are my real savings (due to the current issue for solar users), the Baseline Boost card apparently factored into the status calculation. I jumped to 24% (and Gold) after OC received the data for the most recent event. While that's to my benefit, I'm not sure this makes much sense--if a very low energy user has saved 0% average over the last 20 events and uses a Baseline Boost card, that 5 kWh forecast will result in a massive, but meaningless, average percent savings. I'd suggest that the Baseline Boost events not be included in the percent savings calculation, even as I continue to hope the status issue for solar users will be resolved.
Also, I can't for the life of me figure out where the status numbers are coming from. Below are the results from my most recent event--the one where I used the boost. Somehow, my total forecasted use over the past 20 events increased by less than (though close to) 5 kWh, despite the 5 kWh boost event. Meanwhile, my reported usage only increased by 0.02 kWh, though I used 0.46 kWh during the event. My small solar array did produce a little energy during the 7-8 PM hour, but only around 0.1 kWh. Can anyone else figure out the math behind this?
@WaterGuy My understanding of the baseline boost is that it boosts your forecast to 5 kWh rather than adding 5 kWh to your forecast. It's great if your forecast is usually low but not so good if it's usually a high number.
The math behind the numbers and percentage savings hasn't worked for me for a couple of weeks so there's definitely an issue that they need to resolve. Fortunately for me I'm back to Platinum. My dashboard currently shows 144% but the other numbers are correct.
Strange; when I refreshed this page it deleted my last comment. Here's what it said, for those interested:
An update on this: I was a little surprised to see that while my status calculation still doesn't reflect what I believe are my real savings (due to the current issue for solar users), the Baseline Boost card apparently factored into the status calculation. I jumped to 24% (and Gold) after OC received the data for the most recent event. While that's to my benefit, I'm not sure this makes much sense--if a very low energy user has saved 0% average over the last 20 events and uses a Baseline Boost card, that 5 kWh forecast will result in a massive, but meaningless, average percent savings. I'd suggest that the Baseline Boost events not be included in the percent savings calculation, even as I continue to hope the status issue for solar users will be resolved.
Also, I can't for the life of me figure out where the status numbers are coming from. Below are the results from my most recent event--the one where I used the boost. Somehow, my total forecasted use over the past 20 events increased by less than (though close to) 5 kWh, despite the 5 kWh boost forecast. Meanwhile, my reported usage only increased by 0.02 kWh, though I used 0.46 kWh during the event. My small solar array did produce a little energy during the 7-8 PM hour, but only around 0.1 kWh. Can anyone else figure out the math behind this?
I wonder what OC would do, if I dumped 8 kW from my EV batteries into the grid during the next OhmHour? Would they pay up or would they screw me somehow?
The formula is pretty well known. Your average savings as a percentage over your forecast over the last 20 OhmHours determines your "Status" level. 20% saving and Status = Gold. 40% saving and Status = Platinum. From there Gold = 2 X Multiplier and Platinum = 4 X Multipler. For now you might have to ignore the fact that the dashboard percentage saving might not be accurate...I'm sure they are working to fix that because the calcs at the moment make no sense. The streak bonus is added on and here's the formula.
TOTAL_points = BASE_points X (Multiplier + Bonus/100)
Have you looked at your CSV download to see how the points are broken down?
It will show you the "Points", "Base points", "Streak Bonus" and "Status Level Bonus". The "Points" is a sum of the other three. If you are Gold your "Status Level Bonus" will be 1 X the "Base Points" if you're Platinum it will be 3 X. (This might look confusing...they are paying you the Base points already so 1+1=2X Multiplier and 1+3=4X Multiplier)
If you have the ability to send from your EV back to the grid, you will of course be saving a bundle and I don't see why you wouldn't be paid for it. I highly doubt that you can do V2G (vehicle to grid) but if you can, try it and please report back.