Which energy suppliers are actively installing smart meters?

Wizard_of_Id

Spies wrote: »

Currently with Sainsburys Energy and I enquired about a Smart Meter, even though they share all British Gas systems they are not currently rolling out Smart Meters.

I'm due to change energy supplier in September and I wondered which suppliers are giving customers a smart meter as in incentive to switch?

Thanks

SSE are fitting smart meters, I am with Hydro and got one fitted as soon as I requested it.

molerat

How many are fitting SMETS2 compliant (or upgradeable) meters at the moment is the more important question.

System

Wizard_of_Id wrote: »

SSE are fitting smart meters, I am with Hydro and got one fitted as soon as I requested it.

For those who haven't looked at the CMA report issued in the wake of the BREXIT vote, this may be of interest. Note that it would seem that the Government has it in mind to bring forward legislation to force consumers to accept a smart meter. That said, DECC might be a tad busy trying to hold on to the Hinckley Point project which most informed commentators think has just gone south.

The timetable for the roll-out of smart meters is as follows:

(a) The Data Communications Company is due to go live on 17 August 2016. DECC considers that suppliers will be able to start installing SMETS 2 (fully interoperable) meters from this date.

(b) SMETS 1 meters that are installed until 28 October 2017 (the ‘SMETS 1 end date’ – 12 months after the Data Communications Company provides the Release 1.3 functionality) will count towards suppliers’ smart meter roll-out targets; beyond this point they will not. OAs a result, it is unlikely that suppliers would install further SMETS 1 meters beyond this date. (Note that a customer with a SMETS1 meter may lose smart services when they switch supplier.)

(c) We understand that suppliers will be able to ‘enrol’ some SMETS 1 meters into the Data Communications Company at some point in the future, but that this is unlikely to be possible before 2018. Following this, customers with SMETS 1 meters that have been enrolled will no longer face the loss of smart functionality when switching supplier.

(d) DECC estimates that the 2.4 GHz home area networks (already available) will enable suppliers to install smart meters in 70% of households. Where the home area network needs to extend over larger distances, either the 868MHz solution or an alternative home area network solution will be needed. The 868 MHz solution will be suitable for use in 96.5% of households, with the remaining households requiring ‘alternative home area network’ solutions. DECC and industry stakeholders are working towards the availability of these solutions in late 2017 or early 2018.

(e) DECC is proposing to require suppliers to fit smart meters for customers requiring a new or replacement meter: the New and Replacement Obligation. This is due to come into force in mid-2018.

(f) The roll-out of smart meters to domestic customers is due to be substantially completed by the end of 2020.

fredandwilma

I've had my smart meter for four years, i don't understand why people have a problem with them. No complaints here.

System

fredandwilma wrote: »

I've had my smart meter for four years, i don't understand why people have a problem with them. No complaints here.

We are all paying £12Bn on our future bills for this badly mis-managed and technically-risky programme. This sums up the present issues (credit Nick Hunn)


The Smart Gasman Cometh

It’s almost exactly fifty years since Flanders and Swann wrote their classic song “The Gasman Cometh”. With the advent of smart metering it seemed an appropriate time to provide an update.

Twas on a Monday morning, The gasman came to call. My meter wouldn’t work,
It wasn’t being smart at all. He put another meter in,
It took him several hours.
But it couldn’t send a reading, as the comms hub wasn’t powered!
Oh, it all makes work,
For the working man to do!

Twas on a Tuesday morning,
The comms hub man appeared.
He wiggled his antennas
And he said “It’s as I feared.
Your DLMS is b*********d,
Your ZigBee’s obsolete.
But I’ve set you up on prepay.” So off went all my heat!
Oh, it all makes work
For the folk at DECC to do!

Twas on a Wednesday morning, The DCC man came.
He asked my for my date of birth, My shoe size and my name.
He said “You’ve failed security,
I’ll have to go away
And check it with my database. But have a free display!”
Oh, it all makes work Over at GCHQ!

Twas on a Thursday morning
The Display man tapped my door.
He showed me lots of menus,
But I’m not sure what they’re for.
He said “It shows your gas bill,
And your current tariff rate.
But that isn’t what they’ll charge you, as the head-end’s out of date!”
Oh, it all makes work, For consulting folk to do!

Twas on a Friday morning,
The Head End man came by.
I showed him my new meter
And he gave a heartfelt sigh.
“That’s not SMETS2”, he said to me,
“It won’t connect at all.”
But he wrote my meter reading down and told me who to call!
Yes, it still makes work, For the working man to do!

On Saturdays and Sundays,
They charge a call-out fee.
So I bought some solar panels and migrated to PV!


http://www.nickhunn.com/gb-smart-metering/

footyguy

Spies wrote: »

Currently with Sainsburys Energy and I enquired about a Smart Meter, even though they share all British Gas systems they are not currently rolling out Smart Meters.

I'm due to change energy supplier in September and I wondered which suppliers are giving customers a smart meter as in incentive to switch?

Thanks

No one is giving a smart meter as an incentive - they are all fitted free.

Some suppliers have already started, but at present if you get a smart meter it only works with the supplier that arranged it to be fitted (and possibly the odd other one that may use a similar system) but generally if you have samrt meter and switch energy provider, it reverts to a dumb meter.

But if you really want one now, here is the official website that tells you who is offering them.
https://www.smartenergygb.org/en/how-to-get-a-smart-meter/when-can-i-get-a-smart-meter/energy-suppliers

As you will see, by 2020, all suppliers must offer them (FREE) but a customer is under no obligation to have one. Hopefully by then, they will have a universal agreement so they will work with any supplier you may later switch to.

footyguy

fredandwilma wrote: »

I've had my smart meter for four years, i don't understand why people have a problem with them. No complaints here.

4 years? :eek:

Well overdue for a consultation with a comparison wesbite to see just how much over the odds you are paying for that loyalty. :money:

[Deleted User]

footyguy wrote: »

4 years? :eek:

Well overdue for a consultation with a comparison wesbite to see just how much over the odds you are paying for that loyalty. :money:

That`s if he/she has stayed with the same supplier for 4 years.I too have had smarts for over 4 years and I`ve switched around 5 times cashback grabbing and tariff tarting. Switching from Sainsburys Energy to British gas is a doddle as they accept smart switching.One day it will all be like this !

Smodlet

I cannot add anything technical to this but just had to post to thank you, Hengus, for your hilarious ditty. Had me :rotfl:ing, it did. I agree with your other comments, as well.

As for Smart meters, why on earth does anyone with a grain of sense need a meter to send readings to one's supplier? I much prefer to do that myself, on the same date every month, via my online account.

For me, Smart meters have the same appeal as any other non-proven gadget/bit of kit, i.e. none. To those of us for whom tech for its own sake is a joke, this is just another waste of time and resources which, in this case, smacks of Big Brother. Nor do I want to be the one doing free beta testing for versions of Windows that are full of bugs because they can't wait to iron them out before they launch yet another flavour of something that works just fine. I do not want the latest iphone/smartpill (oh, it's tablet?)/whatever for no other reason than because it's new.

Replacing something for the sake of it seems contra to money-saving to me. If there are customers out there who fail to provide readings on a regular basis, perhaps energy companies should make more effort to obtain them and leave those of us who do provide them alone.

Oh, and quoting unit rates, tariff names etc. in connection with specific suppliers seems like skirting the edges of advertising, imho... not MSE!

System

Smodlet wrote: »

As for Smart meters, why on earth does anyone with a grain of sense need a meter to send readings to one's supplier? I much prefer to do that myself, on the same date every month, via my online account.

!

If you look at the detail of the CMA Final Report, you will see that there is not only a recommendation that suppliers should be fined for failing to meet their smart meter roll-out targets but, more importantly, that 30 minute readings should become a regulated norm.

Why? At the moment, individual usage is profiled so that the Grid managers can forecast peak demand; turn on standby power stations; buy in European energy etc. This process is deemed to be hugely inefficient and expensive. Thirty minute monitoring would ensure that the industry had more accurate usage profiles on which to base its generation decisions.

I have no issues with any of this. My only issue is with the management, cost, technical risk and security of the smart metering system. The costs are real but the savings are illusory because energy usage has already fallen as a result of better boilers, LED lamps etc. The Netherlands now estimate a 0.6% saving per household.

FWiW, if a supplier can turn off your supply remotely - then so can a third-party. Achieve this on a large scale and it could cause irreperable damage to an already old Grid. Sub-stations exist to keep the line voltage below 235 volts With this in mind, they are limits on the number of solar panels in a given area as export leads to a potential over-volt condition. Imagine what would happen, if all the meters in Birmingham were turned off at the same time? It is worth noting that GCHQ had to intervene recently to tell Smart GB that their smart meter security accreditation protocols were high risk and needed to be changed.

We all live in a connected World. Changing a dumb meter with a smart meter is more than just making billing easier which is why, when DCC goes live next month, the Big 6 suppliers are only required to install 1500 SMETS 2 meters each in the first year. People are now beginning to recognise the inherent risks of getting it wrong. Sadly, as a Nation, we do not have a good track record when it comes to the roll-out of complex IT systems. This is why many commentators in the industry sector believe that smart metering will become the UK's biggest, and most costly, failed IT project. I hope that they are proved wrong.