Terms of contract - Price Lock

Price Lock is an additional service that can be attached to an electricity contract based on market pricing. It allows the customer to fix the electricity energy price for a period defined by Helen.

1. DURATION AND TERMINATION OF THE CONTRACT 

The Price Lock additional service agreement (hereinafter “the agreement”) is valid until further notice. The customer has the right to terminate the agreement with 14 days’ notice, and Helen has the right to terminate the agreement with one month’s notice.

If the customer makes a price fixing using the additional service, the electricity sales contract and the attached Price Lock agreement will become fixed-term immediately at the moment of fixing and remain valid at least until the end of the last price fixing period. The electricity sales contract and the Price Lock agreement cannot be terminated during the fixed-term period. An approved price fixing cannot be cancelled. If the customer terminates the electricity sales contract or the Price Lock agreement, the contract may end no earlier than after the last price fixing period has ended. After the fixing period ends, and if the customer has not made new price fixings for future periods, the electricity sales contract and the Price Lock agreement will continue as contracts valid until further notice.

The customer may fix the electricity price partially or fully for any of the available fixing periods. The length of the fixing periods may be one (1) month, three (3) months, or another length separately defined by Helen, but no longer than two (2) years. Helen Oy reserves the right to change the available price fixing periods without separate notice. Fixings for overlapping periods are not allowed. For example, if the customer fixes the price for February, they can no longer fix the price for the first quarterly (Q1) fixing period of the same year.

The price fixing may cover either the entire consumption of the fixing period (100%) or part of the consumption, according to the options available at the time. The unfixed portion of consumption will be billed according to the customer’s market-priced electricity contract.

2. PRICE OF THE ADDITIONAL SERVICE AND APPLICATION OF INFORMATION IN BILLING

The customer pays a monthly basic fee (€/month) for the Price Lock agreement, which is billed together with the electricity contract invoice. The basic fee is billed for the entire duration of the contract, regardless of whether the customer makes price fixings or whether a fixing period is active.

Price and billing during the fixing period

The fixed electricity energy price consists of the offered fixed energy price component (cents/kWh) and a price component determined by the actual timing of consumption (hereinafter the usage impact).

The price of Price Lock contract comprises four price components: 1) monthly basic fee of the electricity contract (€/month), 2) the fixed price for electric energy (c/kWh) agreed for the contract period, 3) the price component determined on the basis of the timing of consumption (c/kWh, subsequently the usage impact), and 4) Price Lock contract basic fee (€/month). The billing price of electric energy consists of a fixed price part c/kWh (1), to which is added the monthly realized, metering point-specific usage impact c/kWh (2). However, the invoiced price of electric energy cannot be negative.

The usage impact is described in further detail below. The actual invoiced prices are available in the Oma Helen app. The customer’s consent to using Oma Helen is a precondition for drawing up the Price Lock contract. The supplier refunds or charges the metering point-specific usage impact each calendar month.

The usage impact is determined on the basis of the price in the Finnish price area (Elspot), published by the Nordic power exchange (Nord Pool AS), and the customer’s consumption. The calculation period is one calendar month. If the customer’s contract starts or ends in the middle of a calendar month, the part of the calendar month in which the customer has had a valid fixed price shall be used in the price calculation. The customer’s consumption-weighted average price (A) is thus based on the electricity consumption and price on the effective days and on the average price of the power exchange over the entire invoicing month (B).

The monthly usage impact is calculated as follows:

(A-B) / E = c/kWh, where

A = the sum of the products of the electricity consumption (kWh) and the spot prices of exchange electricity (c/kWh) *

B = Monthly electricity consumption (kWh) multiplied by the non-weighted monthly average of exchange electricity (c/kWh)

E = Monthly electricity consumption (kWh)

A = Consumption is multiplied by the spot price for the same time, after which these products of all periods of the month are added up. This way, the usage impact of various moments over the month is taken into account because consumption and the spot price determined on the market for different moments vary greatly by the periods. *If the measurement period of the meter is different from the market's spot price period, an average spot price from NordPool's spot prices is calculated for the meter's measurement period, which is used for billing.

B = The electricity consumption of the same month is added together and multiplied by the monthly average of the spot price for the same month. This makes it possible to calculate the price for total consumption according to the average spot price.

(A-B) = By deducting B from A, you can see the relation of consumption in lower and higher priced moments to the average value. Whether the value is negative, i.e. reducing the invoice amount, or positive, i.e. increasing the invoice amount, is determined according to whether a higher proportion of monthly consumption is consumed during a lower-priced or higher-priced period in comparison to the average for the whole month. The more you can direct monthly consumption to the lower-priced periods, the more you will stay below the monthly average.

(A-B) / E = A-B calculated in the end is proportioned to consumption by dividing it by the month’s consumption. This gives the usage impact, i.e. the value as a c/kWh unit.

3. CHANGES TO CONTRACT TERMS AND PRICES 

The Price Lock contract and its terms are valid until further notice. The currently valid price of the service can be found at helen.fi/price-lock. Helen may change the contract terms and prices (the basic fee) by notifying the customer 1 month before the change enters into force. Helen reserves the right to provide such notifications primarily in electronic form.

4. OTHER TERMS 

Price Lock agreement can be made for a consumer customer. The Price Lock agreement does not replace the customer’s actual electricity contract.

If the customer’s confirmed price fixings cannot be implemented for reasons beyond Helen’s control, or they are cancelled due to circumstances outside Helen’s sphere of influence, or if there has been a clear error in pricing, the customer’s price fixings shall not be binding on Helen. Helen will notify the customer of such a situation without delay.

The Price Lock agreement is intended for a metering point with annual electricity consumption of no more than 50,000 kWh. Helen has the right to terminate the Price Fixing additional service agreement if the annual consumption of the metering point exceeds (or it is evident that it will exceed) the 50,000 kWh limit. The electricity sales contract will continue according to the original market-priced contract.

5. RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES RELATED TO THE PRODUCT

The spot price is used in the calculation of usage impact. The price of electricity on the electricity market is determined by supply and demand. Spot price fluctuations on the electricity market offer customers the opportunity to influence the price of their electricity bill by timing their consumption to the most affordable periods. If the use of electricity is concentrated during more expensive periods, it will have an increasing effect on the usage impact.

The characteristics of spot priced electricity include that the price paid for electricity can vary significantly within a day as well as between days. The end user does not know the price beyond a one-day period. Therefore, from the customer's perspective, the spot priced electricity includes both opportunities and risks.