Smart meters - what is the catch?

System

mersey901 wrote: »

I haven't read all the replies so this may have been covered, but in such a scenario how do you check your bill?

At the moment I can read the meter, know how much I've used and the cost per unit.

But if costs vary during the day there will be know way of checking that I can see.

A lot of suppliers are looking at replacing IHDs with apps and online usage accounts. Remember, smart meters have the ability to report usage in 30min segments. I suspect that we will end up getting bills similar to what they use in Canada:


https://www.oeb.ca/rates-and-your-bill/electricity-rates/understanding-your-electricity-bill

House_Martin

Why use Canada as a comparison ? Italy and Republic of Ireland, France, Portugal, Belgium, and many other European countries are all well on the way to a full smart roll out. Italy is virtually 100% .No reports of adverse problems with TOU tariffs..We have them here and have done for years in the form of Eco 7 . TOU was Trialed in Northern Ireland to a positive review by all who tried them and if they had the option would choose them and save money.
British Gas have the free 8 hrs tariff on Saturday or Sunday where they program the meter to operate like an Eco 7 meter to record the 8 hrs..Very popular tariff for those who stick rigidly to standard/variable tariffs..whats your problem ? I , as an OAP I would go out of my way now to choose off peak times for heavy usage electric appliances..

Cmc

Hello

Smart meter technology allows energy companies to monitor fuel use and harvest data about energy consumption per household. This could be used to market energy saving products to 'help' you to cut consumption. Savings are unlikely to reduce bills as much as provide leverage to help and advise customers about price plans and future energy saving products.

The provider can cut customers off more readily, vary prices during different periods of the day more easily and if necessary 'ration' energy during peek demand.

[Deleted User]

Whatever energy you save, they just put the prices up. It's not in their interests to actually save you money.

Terry46_2

From my pov, they are just a convenience to the supplier. They will save money for the supplier, but it is going to cost millions to install these new meters. And we will all be paying!
Some meters won't work with some suppliers, so it may stop you switching to a supplier of your choice.
For £40ish, you can install your own smart display to show energy usage (which is what I have done).
Perhaps in 5 to 10 years, a smart meter may be worthwhile. As more renewable energy comes on line, the energy companies may need greater demand and start offering incentives to switch on in order to level out demand. But at the moment, it is a long way off before ordinary home consumers are going to gain anything from smart meters other than ever increasing bills to pay for the rollout.
I don't see that remote reading of meters is an incentive to me: I can easily send my supplier my meter readings using my laptop or smartphone app.

EachPenny

Terry46 wrote: »

From my pov, they are just a convenience to the supplier. They will save money for the supplier, but it is going to cost millions to install these new meters. And we will all be paying!
Some meters won't work with some suppliers, so it may stop you switching to a supplier of your choice.
For £40ish, you can install your own smart display to show energy usage (which is what I have done).
Perhaps in 5 to 10 years, a smart meter may be worthwhile. As more renewable energy comes on line, the energy companies may need greater demand and start offering incentives to switch on in order to level out demand. But at the moment, it is a long way off before ordinary home consumers are going to gain anything from smart meters other than ever increasing bills to pay for the rollout.
I don't see that remote reading of meters is an incentive to me: I can easily send my supplier my meter readings using my laptop or smartphone app.

I agree with all you say, but for one thing.

The cost of installing smart meters is measured in billions, not millions.

This is the government's own cost-benefit analysis-
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/567167/OFFSEN_2016_smart_meters_cost-benefit-update_Part_I_FINAL_VERSION.PDF

I think the 'graph' on page 1 is meant to show what will happen to the predicted costs.

System

EachPenny wrote: »

I agree with all you say, but for one thing.

The cost of installing smart meters is measured in billions, not millions.

This is the government's own cost-benefit analysis-
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/567167/OFFSEN_2016_smart_meters_cost-benefit-update_Part_I_FINAL_VERSION.PDF

I think the 'graph' on page 1 is meant to show what will happen to the predicted costs.

And the rest....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/06/10/utility-companies-face-700m-cost-delay-fitting-smart-meters/

[Deleted User]

And the cost for reading smart meters and distributing the readings to the energy companies in 2016/17 was £347,632,000 (Yes 347 Million Pounds in a year) https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/media/433052/dcc_annual_report_and_regulatory_accounts_31_march_2017.pdf
Cheap?

EachPenny

gsmlnx wrote: »

And the cost for reading smart meters and distributing the readings to the energy companies in 2016/17 was £347,632,000 (Yes 347 Million Pounds in a year) https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/media/433052/dcc_annual_report_and_regulatory_accounts_31_march_2017.pdf
Cheap?

You can buy a lot of meter readers and vans for that kind of money... plus you can get them to spy on people to see if they are watching TV without a licence.

Mind you, it may only be a matter of time before smart meters can tell TVL which TV channel you are watching.

Robisere

I had new 'ordinary' gas and leccy meters fitted last March, when our Social landlord finally junked our ancient Eco7 NSHeaters. (Under Environmental Health duress)

The leccy meter is outside the front door, gas meter by the side door. It takes a maximum of 10 minutes to check, record and send readings to EDF, via their website. I could even send them via my smartphone, but I like to access the website, because I receive a message within a few moments about payments, which do not change. Normally I get an online bill based on the readings, within 24 hours. Our house is within a village which has no mobile coverage whatsoever, and very poor TV/DAB signals. All our antennas are high-mounted.

So tell me again: why do I need a smartmeter? And to the muppets who have decided that we should be forced to have smartmeters, I raise my hand, reverse it and show two stiff fingers in an Agincourt salute!