Smart meters can switch off your electricity supply!

System

theotheroperation wrote: »

As an electrician I think remote disconnection could be a handy feature. You go to a customer to install something, need to attach new tails to the meter, phone the supplier, ask them to shut down, fit your tails and then phone them back to turn it back on again. Certainly preferable to pulling that 100A link out.

You cannot be serious? No sensible supplier would ever include such a practice in their standard operating procedures. Lawyers are already advising that remote disconnection is a step too far. Good in principle but someone will have to be present to check (a) that they have got the correct supply meter; (b) that vulnerable people are not cut off, and (c) it is safe to re-connect.

So we now have a feature that will get very little, if any, use and one that offers the potential for third-party exploitation.

Quote: In 2003 there were around 16,000 disconnections of domestic customers for debt in the UK. In 2015 - the most recent year for which published data exists - there were just over 250. Unquote (Source Energy UK)

theotheroperation

There's no reason it couldn't be made to work. The point about smart meters is that they're smart - i.e. software driven - and they talk to the supplier. It could be a case of going into the meter's menu, choosing a 'service' page and selecting 'request disconnect'. Supplier then disconnects, electrician does his work, then goes back into the menu and selects 'request reconnect'.

Come to think of it, smart meters should have an 'off' function in the menu anyway. It's only the same thing as throwing an isolation switch where one is fitted.

Robin9

theotheroperation wrote: »

As an electrician I think remote disconnection could be a handy feature. You go to a customer to install something, need to attach new tails to the meter, phone the supplier, ask them to shut down, fit your tails and then phone them back to turn it back on again. Certainly preferable to pulling that 100A link out.

As a statement by a qualified electrician this scares me.

1) How does a remote disconnection meet the requirement regarding isolation so that you can work safely ?

2) Its a fuse not a link.

House_Martin

If I had my way I would remotely disconnect whole streets in Hexthorpe Doncaster. . The occupiers routinely deny access as a matter of course to inspect the meters and have done for many years.
Suppliers like the Spanish company Scottish Power will not take out a warrant for a gold pig !
Little chance of any meter fitters getting in their places to install a smart meter.
Would anyone object to the principle of switching a smart meter from credit to prepayment mode when someone constantly refuses to pay and has accumulated debts over, say, £800 and more ?

reeac

Robin9 wrote: »

As a statement by a qualified electrician this scares me.

1) How does a remote disconnection meet the requirement regarding isolation so that you can work safely ?

2) Its a fuse not a link.

I agree. When I had a house with a fuse box as opposed to mcb s I used to pull the fuse and put it in my pocket before playing with the wiring.

AndyCF

I'd not personally want to trust said relay/triac to isolate the supply compared to physical main fuse removal.

At least as I understand it the 'exploding fuses' issue is when they are removed / reinserted while loading is present, aka spark/welding. Although I'm no electrician, it would (in a logical frame of mind at least) seem prudent to ensure there is no "loading" on the main fuse before its removal ie: ensure all power is off first at the fuseboard.

Regarding smarts and remote disconnection: I think it is just an economy of scale really as it means the same meter can be fitted for both credit and prepay customers. From a personal standpoint the electric smart does not really concern me however a 'credit mode' gas meter that decides to close the supply when its internal battery dies (a separate subject) does. A 'fix for all' would be different types of meter for each mode, however I cannot see anyone agreeing to that. In other words no relay or solenoid in the 'credit' meters.

EachPenny

Robin9 wrote: »

As a statement by a qualified electrician this scares me.

1) How does a remote disconnection meet the requirement regarding isolation so that you can work safely ?

2) Its a fuse not a link.

I agree. How can anyone think a complex technological solution is preferable to a simple physical isolation switch, preferably one with the facility to lock out of service.

badmemory

Well I'm not an electrician but I know that if I was ever going to be working on my electrics I would want to be the one who pulled the plug/fuse/whatever & I would want to be the one putting it back in. I really do not believe that any electrician would trust solely to a remote "disconnection" & the even more unlikely trust in a remote connection. Can you imagine the shift change 'why is that turned off?' Oh whoops we just fried an electrician, oh well never mind, he shouldn't have trusted us. Nevermind no-one will ever believe it wasn't his fault.

Michaelw

Landis&Gyr's website highlights the benefits for the energy supplier which there are many also in the way of disconection.

Disconnector

• Supply can be disconnected via remote communication and re-enabled manually via push button following a remote enable command.
• Disconnection by utility, empty property, non payment etc.
• Remote re-connection (following action by the consumer).

https://www.landisgyr.eu/product/landisgyr-e470-zigbee-smart-electricity-meter/




Energy firms say price cap on bills could hit UK roll-out of smart meters Big six also warn investment in energy sector is in jeopardy if firms are not allowed to challenge level at which bills are capped


https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/dec/11/energy-firms-say-price-cap-on-bills-could-hit-uk-roll-out-of-smart-meters


Deciding to use interim technology which appears to be non standardised also increases costs.Anyone who decides to visit a competitors website and enter's the words Smart Meter faces a warning that the meters might not work.Worse for prepayment customers that they won't work at all.This potentially puts people off switching altogeter because of the hassle of meter swaps leaving customers in a position of wait and see the future outcome possibly many years' away.

PhilE

GingerBob wrote: »

Have a look at British Gas T&Cs for smart meters. They explain in detail how then can remotely disconnect your supply. I guess all the other suppliers will be the same. I can't think of a single benefit for smart meters, but I can think of several disadvantages. I won't be getting one, and I'd advise everyone else to take the same stance..

Agreed. SSE where so aggressive with their smart meter promotion, up to 2 cold calls per day, that I will be changing suppliers.

They claim the smart meters give you more control, but in truth they give them more control over you. There's going to be more revelations as to what the internet connected smart meters can actually do.

As a society we've become numb to the fact that our phones can be hacked by the UK government at anytime, that our Microsoft computers will take snap shots of our private computer activity, and send it back to Microsoft unless we opt out of it.

Now energy companies are shoving smart meters down our throats, and we're taking it without knowing what we're really taking.