Vaasan Sähkö’s Influencer electricity contract provides stability in the electricity bill as well as the opportunity to benefit from smarter timing of your electricity usage. The price of electricity consists of a fixed component and a component based on the exchange price that the customer influences themselves. The contract is valid until further notice and does not require a fixed-term commitment. Order an Influencer contract here.
Influencer: The benefits of Exchange electricity combined with the price security of Basic Electricity
The price of Vaasan Sähkö’s Influencer electricity contract consists of a basic fee, an energy charge, and a customer-specific component based on the user’s own influence on their electricity price. The pricing of the energy charge changes quarterly.
Having your own influence in this way makes it possible to get cheaper electricity. If you use electricity the most when exchange electricity is cheap (typically at night and on weekends), your own influence on raising the price decreases and so you save on your bill. On the other hand, if you use energy the most when exchange electricity is expensive (typically on weekday mornings and weekday evenings), there will be an increase in the bill due to the greater influence of the user on the price.
For most, the user’s own influence on the price changes the energy charge by +/- 2 cents per kWh.
Easy tracking in our app
With Vaasan Sähkö’s app, as the electricity user you can easily follow how your own influence on the price is calculated, and the exchange electricity prices that affect it.
A responsible choice in many ways
The electricity used in Influencer electricity contracts is emission-free, as it is produced by wind and nuclear power.
By adjusting your consumption, you contribute both to the sufficiency of electricity supply and the overall emission-free nature of power generation. Electricity production needs to rely more on fossil fuels during consumption peaks. When consumption is timed for periods when electricity is cheapest, emission-free production best meets the consumption demand.
Questions about Influencer
Who is Influencer suitable for, and not suitable for?
An Influencer electricity contract is suitable for you if:
- you want to benefit from timing your electricity consumption for cheaper hours, but find exchange electricity too risky.
- you are able to shift your electricity consumption from one time to another.
- you prefer sustainable choices: you want an emission-free electricity contract and to contribute to the Finnish energy system.
An Influencer contract is best for those who can time a significant portion of their consumption to periods when electricity is cheapest. Typically, this means higher electricity consumption during nights and weekends.
Influencer is particularly suitable if you have:
- a large storage heater. The storage heater can be timed to the cheapest hours of the day, using the heat for heating the house and domestic hot water during other hours of the day.
- an electric or hybrid car. Charging the car during the cheapest hours does not affect living comfort, but with an Influencer contract you can lower the cost of electricity. This is because the consumption of an electric car is typically higher than other household consumption.
- small-scale solar electricity production. In general, spot prices are high during the day and low at night. Solar panels may cover your entire consumption needs during the day, so you don’t have to buy electricity during expensive daytime hours. Naturally, the benefit of a solar power system depends on the season.
With normal usage, the scale of the user’s own influence on the price typically varies around +/- 2 cents per kWh – so price fluctuations aren’t enormous even if you don’t closely monitor your consumption.
What is the user’s own influence on electricity price?
The user’s own influence on the price of electricity is a contract component that affects the price. The user’s own influence depends on when and on which days of the week they use the most electricity.
When your own influence is negative, you save on the bill
- You use a larger portion of electricity when it is cheapest on the energy exchange
- Your consumption is typically concentrated on nighttime and weekends
When your own influence is positive, you get a higher bill
- You use the most electricity at the same time as most consumers in Finland, which is when the price of exchange electricity is usually at its highest
- Your consumption is typically concentrated on weekday mornings and evenings
By factoring the user’s own influence into our pricing, we aim to encourage them to shift their electricity consumption away from peak hours. The price of electricity and the amount of electricity consumption vary by the hour. When consumption is more even, demand peaks that increase the overall price of electricity are avoided.
How significant can the user’s own influence on price be?
For most electricity users, the scale of their own influence on the price typically varies between +/- 2 cents per kWh from the fixed energy charge.
Larger variations in both directions are also possible.
The sum of the energy charge and the user’s own influence on unit prices (cents per kWh) cannot be negative.
How can I get the most benefit from my own influence on electricity prices?
The rule of thumb is simple: use electricity when it is cheapest.
The spot price of electricity on electricity exchanges can vary dramatically. In windy weather, the electricity price can be negative, while on a windless, freezing day it can be very high.
However, the electricity price is known precisely only the day before, so it’s not possible to know with certainty which days of the week or month are the most economical. It is common for electricity to be cheapest during nights and weekends. On the other hand, on windy days electricity can also be inexpensive in the middle of the day.
Therefore, it is advisable to follow these guidelines:
- in daily consumption, aim to shift electricity usage to the more cost-effective hours. For example, schedule electric heating for the night, wash dishes, and take showers during times when electricity spot prices are low.
- in weekly consumption, you can try to anticipate or take advantage of cost-effective periods. For instance, use the sauna and the oven on the weekends, and wait for the cheapest times to do laundry.
One way to track the inexpensive and expensive hours the day before is through Vaasan Sähkö’s app.
The national transmission system operator Fingrid’s handy Tuntihinta app allows you to see what time of day you should schedule your electricity use. You can also set up alerts to make it easier to manage your power consumption.
Where can I see my own influence on price?
Information about the user’s own influence on electricity price per month is available in the Vaasan Sähkö app, and is also detailed on the electricity bill.
You can see in our app how your own influence on price changes over the month. The final size of the user’s own influence on the price for the month is determined only at the beginning of the next month, once the average spot price for the previous month and the amount and timing of the user’s electricity consumption are known.
How Influencer differs from exchange electricity
Vaasan Sähkö’s Influencer pricing is primarily based on a fixed energy price, to which the customer’s own influence on the price is added. When you use electricity during the times when it is cheapest on the energy exchange, your own influence on the price decreases, resulting in savings for you.
Because of this, the price fluctuations for Vaasan Sähkö’s Influencer contract are smaller than with an exchange electricity contract.
With an exchange electricity contract, the energy price you pay is based on the hourly pricing of the energy exchange, which can vary quite a lot from hour to hour or day to day.
How does Influencer differ from Basic Electricity?
In Basic Electricity, the only way you can influence the size of your electricity bill by consuming less energy. However, with Basic Electricity you know the exact energy price in advance.
Influencer allows you to consume the same amount of energy and still get a discount thanks to being able to control your own influence on the price through smarter timing of your electricity consumption.
In Influencer, the base level of energy charge is lower than Basic Electricity. On the other hand, the energy charge in Influencer may rise higher than with Basic Electricity if you use a larger portion of electricity when it is most expensive.
When will the electricity price be reviewed?
In our quarterly products, the energy price is adjusted four times a year. The price periods are 1 January to 31 March, 1 April to 30 June, 1 July to 30 September and 1 October to 31 December. We will send a price notification for the next three-month period at the latest one month before the period begins. You can then find the new prices on our website also.