Solar panels + Electricity usage problem

greyteam1959

So you have not given them meter readings in 3-4+ years ??

cherrysftw

greyteam1959 wrote: »

So you have not given them meter readings in 3-4+ years ??

No... I have been with this supplier since 15/08/18, and I've supplied readings constantly on the 4th of each month manually via their website.

cherrysftw

Anyone got any last suggestions? The process seems for me to have an electric meter installed, stay with this supplier for 6 weeks and they will extrapolate and give their estimated usage. (will seems very flawed).

The backward readings were evident from the 2nd month I joined (Aug 2018 was first reading, Sept 2018 reading was lower than Aug 2018 so this should have caught on much earlier). Is there much point in raising a complaint that this was picked up just as I'm about to leave?

louismcd

I'm having the same issue after moving house 3 months ago, meter going down as opposed to up. The supplier sent an auto generated message saying that the reading seem low, after calling and reviewing images of the meter, it is going down. The suppliers says to wait until smart meters can be installed in my area, which is fine however I would like to switch to a far better deal.

Will they actually know how much electricity to bill me for? :huh:

Smodlet

Older style "wheel" meters do indeed go backwards once solar panels are installed. I informed my supplier as soon as we had them and was told a "back-stop" meter would be required as energy companies do not like meters to go backwards. Their first thought, when they realise this is happening, is that the customer must be stealing electricity, not a situation I ever wanted to be involved with.

I think it took them about 2 weeks to come and replace the meter. I remember I had a world of grief trying to find someone within this big 6 company who could actually grasp what they were being told. Not a good customer experience at all; I got an entire bill refunded, it was so bad...

I second the suggestion to resolve the meter issue with your current supplier rather than lay it on your new one, depending on who they are. If you are switching from a small company to a large one, it might be better to do the reverse, not that such was my experience. HTH.

louismcd

Thank you. Do you know if the smart meter the current supplier wants to install will be compatible with a new supplier?

cherrysftw

louismcd wrote: »

I'm having the same issue after moving house 3 months ago, meter going down as opposed to up. The supplier sent an auto generated message saying that the reading seem low, after calling and reviewing images of the meter, it is going down. The suppliers says to wait until smart meters can be installed in my area, which is fine however I would like to switch to a far better deal.

Will they actually know how much electricity to bill me for? :huh:

Smodlet wrote: »

Older style "wheel" meters do indeed go backwards once solar panels are installed. I informed my supplier as soon as they we had them and was told a "back-stop" meter would be required as energy companies do not like meters to go backwards. Their first thought, when they realise this is happening, is that the customer must be stealing electricity, not a situation I ever wanted to be involved with.

I think it took them about 2 weeks to come and replace the meter. I remember I had a world of grief trying to find someone within this big 6 company who could actually grasp what they were being told. Not a good customer experience at all; I got an entire bill refunded, it was so bad...

I second the suggestion to resolve the meter issue with your current supplier rather than lay it on your new one, depending on who they are. If you are switching from a small company to a large one, it might be better to do the reverse, not that such was my experience. HTH.

It's a farce I can tell you. We really didn't know or else I would have raised it up with the supplier. However the alarming thing is in Aug 2018 I gave my first reading, Sept 18 went down by nearly 100 units! As a consumer you only read it and upload it and be on your way as you are obliged to do so. However they made a DD review in Nov 2018 so they must have noted this discrepancy. I have raised a complaint and will probably take it forward if it comes back negative, because I do think I've done what I was required to do.

Having said that I really don't think the stress of this is worth it. I will get the smart meter installed, but I still wonder how my electricity readings will be appropriated.

Smodlet

louismcd wrote: »

Thank you. Do you know if the smart meter the current supplier wants to install will be compatible with a new supplier?

To whom is this directed? If you quote the relevant post, it avoids confusion, not that anyone on an internet forum can possibly answer your question anyway; only your supplier can do that.

cherrysftw wrote: »

It's a farce I can tell you. We really didn't know or else I would have raised it up with the supplier. However the alarming thing is in Aug 2018 I gave my first reading, Sept 18 went down by nearly 100 units! As a consumer you only read it and upload it and be on your way as you are obliged to do so. However they made a DD review in Nov 2018 so they must have noted this discrepancy. I have raised a complaint and will probably take it forward if it comes back negative, because I do think I've done what I was required to do.

Having said that I really don't think the stress of this is worth it. I will get the smart meter installed, but I still wonder how my electricity readings will be appropriated.

How do you expect your energy company to know you have solar panels unless you tell them? They are not psychic! In my considerable experience, they are barely competent. If you bear this in mind, you will reap the benefits, believe me.

Had your supplier been sufficiently awake to notice your patently inconsistent meter readings (assuming they received them) their first thought would probably have been that you had a... "Black room", is it? in your loft and were tending a cannabis farm.

cherrysftw

Smodlet wrote: »

To whom is this directed? If you quote the relevant post, it avoids confusion, not that anyone on an internet forum can possibly answer your question anyway; only your supplier can do that.



How do you expect your energy company to know you have solar panels unless you tell them? They are not psychic! In my considerable experience, they are barely competent. If you bear this in mind, you will reap the benefits, believe me.

Had your supplier been sufficiently awake to notice your patently inconsistent meter readings (assuming they received them) their first thought would probably have been that you had a... "Black room", is it? in your loft and were tending a cannabis farm.

haven't a monkeys what that last paragraph means, but it is clear as day looking at the readings that something is wrong. A meter reading doesn't go backwards in the 1st month of the contract. The very fact they made a DD winter appraisal means the usage must have been looked at so I should have been alerted then, not days before I am to switch.

Either way I have nothing to hide or show, I will pay for the electricity that I used but not if they are going to fit a smart meter, let it run a few weeks then formulate an annual bill (especially at the fall of summer when my panels are in decline!).

Smodlet

Apparently a "black room" is one papered with dustbin liners, according to an episode of, "Cant' pay, we'll take it away" I was unfortunate to catch, wherein cannabis is grown; it seems the cultivation of which requires a great deal of heat and humidity, hence, presumably, the need for energy theft, to maximise profits.