Smart Meters and solar (Ovo) >>> policy clarification

System

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

Looking for a reason ? .... See post #14 ...

HTH
Z[/QUOTYes - I understand that bit but why now? Why not wait until the industry has an agreed standard. The counter argument being is that the industry is on a path to failure so why wait?

zeupater

Hengus wrote: »

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

Looking for a reason ? .... See post #14 ...

HTH
Z

Yes - I understand that bit but why now? Why not wait until the industry has an agreed standard. The counter argument being is that the industry is on a path to failure so why wait?

Hi

So, once you've got a (free) smart-meter and (free) wireless display, then you've got your (free) smart-meter and your (free) display and you don't need to worry about meter-reading access every few months (just a safety check every ~2years) ... move to another supplier and your remote display might not work properly (tariff updating etc), or you return to having meter reading cards pushed through the door and have to take time off work, or possibly have to pay to replace a smart meter with a different supplier's smart meter because you've already had your allocated 'free' one which probably wont work with any other network until shared communication infrastructure becomes available in 2017, even then some may not work and need to be replaced .... all things which would tend to 'lock-in' the customer base and reduce mobility .... that's what much of it is about, restricting customer mobility through opaque measures in order to reflate industry margins ....

Why now ?, well apart from the abovementioned industry posturing, these 'free' meters are costing each and every household in the country around £500 (£12billion project) ... your supplier fits the meter, so your supplier gets the appropriate share of the installation pot, whereas if another supplier handles the installation they get nothing up-front .... now, do meters really cost £500/household fitted when they're probably worth ~£50each ?? .... why now?, well the funding pot's open for sticky industry fingers to dip into ... so, Cui Bono ?

... anyway, doesn't really matter here, even if we were forced to have a smart-meter they're welcome to try and get it to talk to anything from our garage, or anywhere nearby as it's a complete black-spot on any 3G or 4G network! ... I suppose they could piggy-back our broadband if they're willing to pay for the privilege ...

HTH
Z

kevin6666

Hengus wrote: »

i do wonder why energy companies have pushed ahead with this roll-out when there is no agreed standard (particularly, with respect to comms) for smart meters, and Govt is pushing consumers to keep switching suppliers.

IMO it's more a case of poor management and things cascading within these large corporations.


7/8 Years (rough guess) ago the SMART Meter idea was floated/proposed.


These companys instantly bring contractors and 'experts' etc on board to find out what's needed to support this. So projects build, teams expand, money starts getting spent by the millions meanwhile the gov is constantly delaying and failing to release exact specs/standards/requirements.


Meanwhile a slow up of traditional meter recerts has happened what with SMART just been 'around the corner'.


So you have to start doing something as some point...the result is installing meters that might not (they will) comply with the final standards.