OVO removes Smart Gateway service

Sterlingtimes

Ovo has given its Smart Gateway customer 11 days' notice of withdrawal of service. This means that comprehensive energy statistics can no longer be read on-line. This is very disappointing.

Does anyone know whether any other energy supplier offers such a service? An alternative would be a supplier that allows connectivity between a computer and the Smart Meter.

planteria

that seems a shame.. that seemed like progress:undecided.

System

I am guessing here but it might be linked to the roll out of SMETS2 meters and The DCC. GCHQ would go into complete meltdown if any supplier offered a domestic wifi connection to a smart meter. It's a hackers dream scenario.

Autumnella

Even if another supplier does have the service you won't be able to use it as you already have another suppliers Smart meter, which won't work as a Smart meter with the new supplier.

Sterlingtimes

Thank you, that is a good point. Yes, Ovo did something quite special to promote its smart meters and then let its customers down.

Sterlingtimes

Thank you, Hengus. The Product Manager's talk is this:

"As you've all heard, unfortunately, we've made the difficult decision to remove this feature as we're aware that there's been ongoing issues with it. Rather than provide a poor service which results in a poor customer experience and customer contact - we’re going to stop providing the features to focus on other technology that will provide a better customer experience."

Sterlingtimes

Ovo was doing something very special with Smart Metering. Ovo is allowing me, in the circumstances, to switch without an exit fee and the saving achieved through MSE is £466 a year. The Smart Gateway electronics are on the way to the tip.

System

Sterlingtimes wrote: »

Ovo was doing something very special with Smart Metering. Ovo is allowing me, in the circumstances, to switch without an exit fee and the saving achieved through MSE is £466 a year. The Smart Gateway electronics are on the way to the tip.

That sounds like a very high saving when energy prices have risen over the last year. How is the £466 saving calculated? It is possible on a fixed tariff to switch; make a saving and end up paying more than you were.

Sterlingtimes

Hengus wrote: »

That sounds like a very high saving when energy prices have risen over the last year. How is the £466 saving calculated? It is possible on a fixed tariff to switch; make a saving and end up paying more than you were.

The tariffs may not be directly comparable but my calculations are meticulous. Based upon 5,306 kWh of electricity per annum and 22,773 kWh of gas per annum, the OVO annual charge on a two-year fixed tariff is £1,822. Economy Energy comes in at £1,366 per annum. I accept that the latter company could hike its tariffs

System

Sterlingtimes wrote: »

The tariffs may not be directly comparable but my calculations are meticulous. Based upon 5,306 kWh of electricity per annum and 22,773 kWh of gas per annum, the OVO annual charge on a two-year fixed tariff is £1,822. Economy Energy comes in at £1,366 per annum. I accept that the latter company could hike its tariffs

Fair enough. With your annual usage, I would be looking at the pros/cons of a CHP boiler.

Sterlingtimes

Hengus wrote: »

Fair enough. With your annual usage, I would be looking at the pros/cons of a CHP boiler.

Thank you, Hengus. I thought that CHP had been dismissed as uneconomic by others on this board. Is it a viable technology again?