Smart Meters. Con or not

Mart34

I recently tried switching energy suppliers, but found I couldn't because my currently supplier fitted smart meters into my property and the new supplier I want to switch to have said because there are already smart meters installed they can not supply us.

Is there anyway around effectively not being able to switch because it seems as though I am shackled to my current supplier.

They never mention this when they install and get you to sign on the dotted line do they.


Thanks in advance

Robin9

You are not shackled to your present supplier. I think you have chosen a potential supplier whose conditions are that you have a smart meter installed by them (It helps to meet their targets)

Loook for other suppliers that don ot have this condition.

molerat

Naming the suppliers would be useful.

AndyPK

are you selecting one of the smaller suppliers ?

try one of the big 6 that are cheap.

Skools_Out

Mart34 wrote: »

I recently tried switching energy suppliers, but found I couldn't because my currently supplier fitted smart meters into my property and the new supplier I want to switch to have said because there are already smart meters installed they can not supply us.

Is there anyway around effectively not being able to switch because it seems as though I am shackled to my current supplier.

They never mention this when they install and get you to sign on the dotted line do they.


Thanks in advance

Who is your current supplier? What is your currrent tariff?

All suppliers should be able to supply you (but there might be the odd exception and if you provide us the details we can take a look rather than guess)

Perhaps pop back when you have a bit more time? As I see you left immedaitely after creating this thread :cool:

Mart34

molerat wrote: »

Naming the suppliers would be useful.

Current supplier - Utilita
Cheaper Supplier - Bulb

Mart34

Skools_Out wrote: »

Who is your current supplier? What is your currrent tariff?

All suppliers should be able to supply you (but there might be the odd exception and if you provide us the details we can take a look rather than guess)

Perhaps pop back when you have a bit more time? As I see you left immedaitely after creating this thread :cool:

Skools_out, Sorry, didn’t realise I had to stick around for a bit

We are currently supplied by Utilita who recently sent me a letter stating our energy prices were going up by approx £65 a year, doesn’t really equate to much over the week/month but always good to check the other suppliers, after visiting uswitch last night there was an offer on the table so to speak from a company called Bulb, offering a price cut of around £94 a year, which is who I attempted to switch too, the likes of British Gas, Scottish Power etc were more expensive.

Mart34

Robin9 wrote: »

You are not shackled to your present supplier. I think you have chosen a potential supplier whose conditions are that you have a smart meter installed by them (It helps to meet their targets)

Loook for other suppliers that don ot have this condition.

If that’s the case, why is it such a problem that I have smart meters installed by Utilita, surely it’s just a case of them coming into the property and switching the meters over for there own?

molerat

According to the Bulb FAQs

I have a smart meter installed by a previous or current supplier. Can it work with Bulb?
Right now you’ll need to take a manual reading from your smart meter. To help with that we put together this handy guide to manually reading smart meters.
If you join Bulb and need any help reading your meter, just ask. You can even take a photo of your meter, email it to [EMAIL="help@bulb.co.uk"]help@bulb.co.uk[/EMAIL] and we can advise on how to take a read.
The good news is that we recently partnered with a company who make it possible for any supplier to read some of the existing SMETS1 meters in homes (about a third of them). This will mean that, soon, we’ll be able to receive readings from this set of original first generation smart meters. We’ll contact all the members we can successfully receive smart readings from individually.

Unless of course you are on prepay ?

AndyPK

I'm liking Bulb ! They have their head screwed on.

Bulb choose to install second generation smart meters, which work ‘smartly’ with any supplier.

There are also first generation smart meters, which are in some homes now. Most of the time, these meters only work ‘smartly’ with the supplier who installed them. When you switch suppliers, the meter becomes a non-smart, ‘dumb’ meter.

https://help.bulb.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/115001232872-When-will-Bulb-roll-out-smart-meters-

JohnB47

AndyPK wrote: »

I'm liking Bulb ! They have their head screwed on.



https://help.bulb.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/115001232872-When-will-Bulb-roll-out-smart-meters-

Yes but they only have a variable tariff, no fixed one (at least the last time I looked). So no go for me.

Why would anyone go for a variable tariff precisely at a time when the big six are putting their prices up (and others are likely to follow)?