Last December, I signed a 24-month fixed-term electricity contract with Helen that includes a consumption effect. The basic fee is €2.99/month and the energy fee is 5.99 c/kWh.
I’ve been able to track my consumption and the consumption effect well through the Oma Helen app. The benefit gained in January-February compared to the spot-priced electricity (from PKS) I used previously was also significant. There was definitely some good luck involved with the timing as well. We’ll see how it goes in the future.
The only minor annoyance has come from the billing of the consumption effect. In the December-January billing, I noticed that the consumption effect for the January billing did not match the (even the final) data in the Oma Helen app. Now that the February-March bill arrived, it’s the same story for both months. The billing data for all months is more unfavorable for the customer.
| Consumption effect c/kWh | Oma Helen app | Billing | Difference, c |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec.25 | -1.28 | -1.28 | 0.00 |
| Jan.26 | -1.13 | -1.11 | 0.02 |
| Feb.26 | -2.16 | -2.07 | 0.09 |
| Mar.26 | -0.47 | -0.45 | 0.02 |
| Billing, € | Oma Helen app | Billing | Difference, € |
| Dec.25 | 45.94 | 45.97 | 0.03 |
| Jan.26 | 79.07 | 79.45 | 0.38 |
| Feb.26 | 59.74 | 61.12 | 1.38 |
| Mar.26 | 59.29 | 59.5 | 0.21 |
| Total | 2.00 |
I calculated the consumption effects for our household for those months in Libre Office, for example, by retrieving data from Datahub, etc. The conclusion was that all the consumption effect calculations presented in the Oma Helen app were correct, meaning Helen has systematically overcharged for all months. The differences aren’t significant, but in my opinion, it is clear that Helen has overcharged at least our household. If we have been overcharged for several months, I find it likely that this has also happened to other customers.
I have, naturally, also filed a complaint regarding the matter with Helen’s customer service.
