This section focuses on our participants’ motivations for signing up to Power Payback, and deciding whether or not to opt in to events. Participants were initially attracted to the service by the potential to reduce their electricity bills, but further motivations were also evident, such as the interest and potential fun of taking part, environmental benefits, and reducing strain on the grid. People tended to just opt in to events when notified by SMS. Participants are referred to by their pseudonyms.

Financial savings were motivating, but often in combination with other factors

Participants remembered first hearing about Power Payback by email. You can view the email text in the dropdown.

The most common motivating factor for participants to sign up to Power Payback was the potential to save on their electricity bills. Interviewees were comfortable with the prospect of these savings being relatively small, particularly as they were viewed in the contexts of the current cost-of-living crisis, and potentially having a large family. There was a common theme of suggesting that ‘every little helps’, as described by Chris, a father of four:

Cost saving was usually mentioned alongside other motivations, including fun and interest. For example, Damon described it as, “something to do, a bit of fun. I was just intrigued by it.” Participants mentioned that the clarity of communication when they were first invited to join Power Payback was very appealing. This included an explanation as to the purpose of Power Payback as well as instructions on the structure of events. Supporting grid management or reducing fossil fuel emissions associated with peaks were very occasionally mentioned as motivating factors to opt in, such as when Gwen said, “[it] takes a strain off the grid for a little while”.

These motivations are broadly in common with those identified in previous research (see CSE, Mihalche and Hampton, 2023) on the DFS with a wider set of participants. Some motivations that featured quite prominently in work by CSE were never mentioned, such as helping reduce bills for all households and reducing reliance on gas imports.

Our interviewee Lisa, a mother of four, who did not participate in Power Payback remembered receiving the email about it, but didn’t have an opportunity to give it much thought, commenting, “I think it's just with me being busy with the children and stuff […] I don't have time to be engaging in all of that kind of email stuff”.

Generally, participants were not very clear on the central reason for the existence of the DFS. Power Payback was mainly viewed as aiming to improve customers’ knowledge about energy use and saving, and engagement with Utilita. Helping manage peaks or busy periods on the grid was rarely mentioned, despite being included in the invitation email.

People tended to opt in to events as a default

Participants were notified of specific DFS events by SMS. The opt-in SMS reads as follows: "Utilita Power Payback! Reduce your electricity usage [DAY] between [TIME_1] and [TIME_2] and we’ll pay you up to £[AMOUNT] per kWh. Normally put the washing on at this time? Try saving this job for later! Reply ‘Y’ to opt-in or ‘N’ to opt-out!" People remembered receiving the messages and most found this to be an effective method of notification. One participant noted that notification, reminder, and energy saving summary messages came from different numbers, and that consolidating these would make it easier to follow. Our forum analysis identified approval for WhatsApp-based notification, but some dissatisfaction with delayed or missed notifications in general.

Having decided to participate in Power Payback, participants tended to opt in to events almost by default; as Gwen commented, “I've just always said yes”. Again, the prospect of savings on their electricity bill by doing so was attractive. Further reasons included comparing and contrasting the savings between each event, despite the total savings for each event being relatively minimal. In multiple-person households, the decision to opt in was usually taken by one person. There was little evidence of intra-household consultation about whether to opt in, with the person who signed up taking responsibility for deciding to opt in. As Erica observed, “the financial side of things is kind of left to me because my partner's at work, [...] he just goes with what I tell him”.

There was some evidence of people considering their ability to respond before opting in. Damon, a single occupant, mentioned that he chose not to opt in to events when he was not going to be at home. This was because his approach to responding involved switching all their power off (see next section), which being out meant he would be unable to do.

Participants consistently reported that it was easy to remember when events were taking place due to email and (especially) SMS reminders sent by Utilita in advance. The reminders read: “Thank you for opting-in! Don’t forget your Power Payback event – reduce your electricity usage and earn £[AMOUNT] per kWh. The event will run between [TIME_1] and [TIME_2] today.”

Erica explained how, “I've always got my phone on me, it's in my hand or in my pocket, then that's a good reminder because the text messages are coming through [...] I'd usually just set an alarm on the phone, OK, sort of about half an hour before”. If it were the case that Power Payback customers more generally find SMS notifications to be a sufficient reminder, this suggests that inconsistency in response is less about remembering events and more about ability/willingness to respond to specific events. The way in which people responded to events is the topic of the next section.