N Power and Smart meters Not compatible

eebai · 22 October 2010 at 9:57PM

I recently switched from British gas to n power as n power had the best deal. I thought i would just check if n power where set up to offer the same services as British gas do when you have a smart meter installed. i.e auto meter readings, energy saving features to monitor high usage appliances etc etc.

i called n power customer service initially the customer service rep did not have a clue what i was talking about. Then she went away kept me on hold for 10 mins to then inform me that n power are not set up to use smart meters. They will treat your account as a regular meter, so you will still have to provide your own meter readings, bills will still be estimates. So all the benefits of a smart meter are useless with n power.

Once i found this out I asked n power to cancel my switch to them and leave me with British gas. They informed me it was too late and I have to go through the switch process. I also asked why they have no information to tell potential customers that they are not compatible with smart meter and the rep basically told me it was not there problem and no information for potential customers was required. I would beg to differ because I am now switching back to British gas. N power you are going to lose customers if you don't get your act together with smart meters it is a national rollout. So please change your information so to avoid wasting people’s time switching to you.

seafarers_wife · 22 October 2010 at 11:08PM

npower are currently trialling smart meters, they have them installed on a pre payment basis and the current trial customers have already been selected, and had the meter installed for a number of months. i beleive that smart meters are only at the trial stage with all suppliers and are not yet being rolled out to every customer although i cant wait for the day when i dont have to do my meter reads on a monthly basis, although probably will so i can keep track of how much ive spent myself :money:

Terrylw1 · 23 October 2010 at 1:37AM

Whilst smart metering is still being trialled across the industry, Npower do support smart metering.

Since they are running trials on both credit & prepayment, they have select lists.

However, this does not mean that they can't bill you.

Smart metering bills just the same as current technology. The only issue you have is the ability to get auto reads. Those on the trials that support that, can have that ability.

Npower has a policy when losing smart customers that they have to revert the metering to a normal type. This is most needed if you have multiple registers set up for the smart part ie.g. your readings are coming in. Maybe Bgas should have done that before letting you go?

I think you have to cut call centres some slack on this one because a) Bgas should have made you aware that you are going to have big problems switching since smart metering are not officially launched, b) they may have had to reduce your meter if you are set up to send reads via the new technology and c) have any Suppliers been briefing their staff to handle experimental metering?

They still should have done a lot more to help since they, like other Suppliers have trial metering managers.

This problem is exactly like Bgas about 4-5 years ago when they started losing customers they put on import/export meters since they were one of the first to trial it and others had not. So, when customers left them, they had loads of issues.

Are you on a smart meter trial? If so, Bgas should be helping you understand the implications of switching otherwise you might get this problem with all Suppliers.

spiro · 23 October 2010 at 9:07AM

Terrylw1 is right. All the smart meters currrently being installed are trials and in most cases a meter installed by one supplier will not communicate with another supplier. This will remain the case until an agreed standard is introduced.

Basically if you have had a smart meter installed and want to continue from its benefits dont change suppliers but that isnt very money saving if you can get a better deal elsewhere. Submitting readings online every month doesnt cost anything except a couple of minutes of your time.

undaunted · 23 October 2010 at 9:44AM

What, Npower & Smart do not go together, why am I not surprised?

Once again our energy suppliers & useless regulator fails to bring planned progression. It sounds like your torn between the devil & the deep blue sea to me to be honest but good luck with the switch back going to plan, at least you'll have the sservices you wanted & expected.

Terrylw1 · 23 October 2010 at 2:17PM

Since smart is coming from above, perhaps we should all be asking the government who are bringing this in? The Tories have brought forward the schedule as well.

Expect rises in bills in the years to come since the Suppliers have got to fit all these meters, get into properties they can't and then do all the admin side to get them to bill.

Ofgem are, well, just Ofgem as usual. Same issue as when they did not prepare import/export customers for when Suppliers all started trialling that different times!

I'm not going to defend npower, but if you are having smart metering fitted your current Supplier should be telling you what you can & can't do.

Terrylw1 · 23 October 2010 at 4:37PM

Onstream are one Meter Operator. They are using other agents with smart metering since they conducting various trials.

Then there companies offereing smart metering set ups as a 3rd party to the site e.g. ORSIS.

This is the problem with the confusing number of smart products and trials. Everyone is testing new systems to work with them. If Bgas are going to fir their own meters like some of the other unsupportable ones they fit, consumers can just expect more headaches when they try to change Supplier.

eebai · 29 October 2010 at 10:15PM

spiro wrote: »

Terrylw1 is right. All the smart meters currrently being installed are trials and in most cases a meter installed by one supplier will not communicate with another supplier. This will remain the case until an agreed standard is introduced.

Basically if you have had a smart meter installed and want to continue from its benefits dont change suppliers but that isnt very money saving if you can get a better deal elsewhere. Submitting readings online every month doesnt cost anything except a couple of minutes of your time.

the issue with this view is that smart meters give other benefits such as Accurate bills - not estimated, Smart meters stream accurate information to a small in-home display monitor, so you can see your energy usage, its cost. That way, you can gauge the impact of different appliances & better budgeting Since you'll always know how much your bill is likely to be, it's easier to budget.

I'm not a smart meter sales person just someone that wants to reduce the crazy increases in energy bills. Also N Power have no idea how to handle these questions and did nothing to try and keep me when I said i was going to leave.

eebai · 29 October 2010 at 10:19PM

Terrylw1 wrote: »

Onstream are one Meter Operator. They are using other agents with smart metering since they conducting various trials.

Then there companies offereing smart metering set ups as a 3rd party to the site e.g. ORSIS.

This is the problem with the confusing number of smart products and trials. Everyone is testing new systems to work with them. If Bgas are going to fir their own meters like some of the other unsupportable ones they fit, consumers can just expect more headaches when they try to change Supplier.

this is very confusing as i just expected all suppliers to have same services with these meters. Read the small print i hear people say.

looks like away for B Gas to keep customers???

neilcr_2 · 29 October 2010 at 10:48PM

I was talking to the Scottish Power Call centre today and asked about Smart meters and was told the goverment have given them till 2020 to roll them out.

davidgmmafan · 29 October 2010 at 11:20PM

As others have said its the same for any supplier. One supplier was making a big deal of having smart meters, the cost was 199. I can't recall this name first something or other? Anyway even thier smart meter would become a regular meter if you changed supplier.

There is no agreed standard for smart metering so my understanding is companies would be trying verious different types as they don't know which the government will say to use. I agree 100% with the poster saying BG should've made you aware of this, and it would make sense if it said that in the letter (again someone has suggested this is the case). British Gas will be monitoring the info from the smart meters, if customers leave it somewhat defeats the point of the trial.

BTW if electricity is your main concern you can buy one of those gadgets to monitor your usage, NPower and E.On were giving them away free if you have paperless billing.

N Power and Smart meters Not compatible

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