Smart Meter madness

adam_l · 19 September 2017 at 2:39PM

I'm trying to switch away from the British gas collective fix when it ends in October.

British Gas suggested that they install a smart meter in April which I agreed to , thinking it would save me the hassle of reading the meter.

MSE came up with a list of suppliers. the first one that I tried (Toto Energy) said they could not take over the account because they do not support existing smart meters. I was surprised and called British Gas who responded that this was nonsense and that toto could quite easily take over the account. Post companies insisted it was the others fault. No joy.

I then tried Avro energy who were prepared to take over the account but said I would have to send them meter readings because the smart meter does not work with their system. Taking a reading from this smart meter involves pressing a combination of buttons and cycling through a fairly complex display on both gas and electricity meters separately. A royal pain!

It was much easier to read the original dumb meter.

I feel I was misled - British Gas did not tell me that a smart meter would restrict my choice of supplier or that itcwould not work with other suppliers..
I contacted British Gas and asked them to remove the smart meter and replace it with a normal one. However they refused saying they do not do that.

So at the moment I'm stuck with a useless smart meter that has restricted my choice of supplier and is difficult to read manually.

Has anyone else had a similar problem? Has anyone been successful in persuading British Gas to remove a smart metre and if so how did you manage that?

Thanks!

mr_mf · 19 September 2017 at 2:46PM

This is a common problem. The smart meters that suppliers have been fitting to date are what is called SMETS1 - they are early versions that were designed and fitted before the industry actually got it's act together. Newer meters (known as SMETS2) should be able to work with any supplier as they conform to industry standards. I say should as I don't believe any supplier has started fitting them yet.

Your current meter can be used with any supplier it just looses the smart functionality, plus as you have noticed they are a pain to read manually. I don't think you will be able to get any supplier to swap it back as that's not what they are doing.

Personally I have refused to have a smart meter for exactly the reasons you have found out.

System · 19 September 2017 at 2:50PM

All suppliers will accept an energy transfer irrespective of the meter that has been installed: as you have found out, you just have to read it manually. You haven't been misled: BG - and all other suppliers - are just complying with the Government's smart meter policy. BG will not remove the meter as it is likely that all future meter changes will be of the smart meter type. If a consumer declines to accept a smart meter, the meter will just be installed with the communications' link disabled.

The 'good news' is that the Government has directed that meters such as yours must be interoperable between suppliers - via The Data Communications Company (the central metering hub) - by 2020.

Your alternative is to seek out a supplier that might be prepared to install a smart meter of its own. Sadly, this is still likely to be supplier dependant. Most of the smaller - cheaper - suppliers are waiting until the next generation of smart meters (SMETS2) are rolled out before buying in to the programme. They would like the Big 6 to sort out any teething issues.

Edit:

I have to say having read BG's guidance on switching suppliers with a smart meter, it rather skirts around the issue of inter-operability:

Having smart meters does not in any way prevent customers from being able to change supplier. Your new supplier can let you know if you are able to keep your smart meters benefits so you are able to make an informed choice whether to switch to them.

House_Martin · 19 September 2017 at 3:51PM

Either the Toto call centre chappie has lied or you have misunderstood the reply.All Landis and Gyr and Siemens smart meters, which BG install, work fine with virtually everyone else as dumb credit meters but if the gaining supplier is running the horror meters by Liberty Secure, they cannot work in prepayment meter mode by these suppliers.Ovo, and Utilita are the main two who took the backward step of buying these dreadful user unfriendly meters.
.Maybe Toto are daft enough to follow their lead and use these meters.

adam_l · 19 September 2017 at 4:21PM

Toto definitely would not take over the account. British Gas said it wasn't the first time they had encountered this and their view was that Toto were not prepared to support these meters due to the costs if and when they go wrong. Hmmm....

So am I stuck with this useless "smart" (sic) meter until 2020?
I feel misled becauseif I had known about this hassle I would never have agreed to it being installed!

Smart Meter madness

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