MSE News: 'Switchable' smart meters delayed

Former_MSE_Megan_F

The roll out of next generation smart meters which allow you to switch energy provider without losing their smart features is to be delayed until October...

Read the full story:
''Switchable' smart meters delayed'

Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.

badmemory

Totally gobsmacked at this new delay. Well I'm not actually. I will be gobsmacked if it actually comes off in October. A common phrase which includes the words booze-up and brewery comes to mind as indeed it has for the last several years whenever smart meters has entered any conversation.

Perhaps it is time we actually asked ourselves what is in it for the suppliers to make these meters compatable/easily switchable. The obvious answer is absolutely nothing so why on earth are we expecting them to do it. It is like asking turkeys to vote for christmas.

[Deleted User]

I've lost the will to get upset by this fiasco.
But when the main cog (the DCC) is ran by Capita, I expect nothing to work and the buyers( the consumer) to have to pay through the nose.
I bet none of the extra costs come from Capita or the shareholders of the utility companies.

brewerdave

As per posts #2 & 3 -no surprise here -well actually ,yes, I am surprised ......that the delay is only 3 months .....in reality expect it to go back at least a further year (or two or three......):rotfl:

worried_jim

I wouldn’t touch a smart meter with a barge pole.

System

worried_jim wrote: »

I wouldn’t touch a smart meter with a barge pole.

Forgive me but that is a slightly confusing comment given that you are quite happy to use the internet and, no doubt, other technology. The UK smart meter rollout programme may be a complete shambles but the concept of a smart electricity grid is a much needed - and long overdue - improvement in my opinion.

phillw

Hengus wrote: »

Forgive me but that is a slightly confusing comment given that you are quite happy to use the internet and, no doubt, other technology. The UK smart meter rollout programme may be a complete shambles but the concept of a smart electricity grid is a much needed - and long overdue - improvement in my opinion.

There is a bit of a difference between using the internet and putting your electricity supply at the mercy of a teenage hacker. If someone hacks your computer then you can still get on with your life, if they cause your gas and electricity to shut down then you might struggle to eat and keep warm.

I think some people are also worried that their energy provider could decide to do this as well.

The devil is in the detail. The concept of a smart meter is good, but the execution is likely to be a pigs ear. It also violates the "don't buy a house with anything different" rule.

Robisere

As with so much in the UK at this moment in time, and for several years before that, the problem is caused by this government making knee jerk reactions. They propose a solution to a problem without sufficient research and have no intention of taking time out to carry out that research. They simply hand it all over to some bunch of business cowboys in the name of "Private Enterprise" or "Private Initiative" and expect a working solution. This invariably turns out to be worse than the initial problem.

What is wrong with reading and transmitting meter readings? I do that every 2 months, it works and it keeps my payments on a stable basis. I don't need a smart electricity grid, which will inevitably become not as smart as proposed. I just need my supplier to accept my readings and I check the results of any bill changes myself. Rocket science, it is not.

[Deleted User]

Finally been able to swop to credit meters from prepayment meters with EDF being my provider (they didn't charge for the changeover, only reason for using them).

They spent quite some time trying to persuade me that smart meters were ok, I said no didn't want one until the industry gets its act together, trains engineers properly so smart meters are installed with no risks, and they are compatible with all energy companies.

The operator then said that I would get one of the last few remaining standard meters for gas and electric as they were not producing them anymore. Then a big hullabulloo over whether there were any people who could install a standard meter "We'll see if there are any appointments free but there may not be" etc. Within a week I had the electric standard meter installed, gas one will be installed 6th February. So not as difficult as was implied but took quite some time to arrange.

But it looks like, if the energy companies aren't producing standard meters anymore a consumer won't be able to choose which sort of meter they have. If what the EDF person I spoke to said is true. I didn't really appreciate having to explain over and over why I didn't want a Smart meter either. Should just be able to say no I don't want one. I felt quite pressured to be honest.

System

deannatrois wrote: »

Finally been able to swop to credit meters from prepayment meters with EDF being my provider (they didn't charge for the changeover, only reason for using them).

They spent quite some time trying to persuade me that smart meters were ok, I said no didn't want one until the industry gets its act together, trains engineers properly so smart meters are installed with no risks, and they are compatible with all energy companies.

The operator then said that I would get one of the last few remaining standard meters for gas and electric as they were not producing them anymore. Then a big hullabulloo over whether there were any people who could install a standard meter "We'll see if there are any appointments free but there may not be" etc. Within a week I had the electric standard meter installed, gas one will be installed 6th February. So not as difficult as was implied but took quite some time to arrange.

But it looks like, if the energy companies aren't producing standard meters anymore a consumer won't be able to choose which sort of meter they have. If what the EDF person I spoke to said is true. I didn't really appreciate having to explain over and over why I didn't want a Smart meter either. Should just be able to say no I don't want one. I felt quite pressured to be honest.

A smart meter is nothing than a meter with the addition of a communications module. Suppliers have a legal right to exchange meters when THEY deem them to be end-of-life. There is nothing to stop them replacing old meters with smart type meters with the communications' module disabled. This makes sense given that occupants change over time. By declining a smart meter, all you are in effect saying is that you do not wish to have the smart technology enabled.

molerat

The biggest problem I see is the manual reading of a smart meter. I can currently read my meters from 6ft away.