Scottish Power are still installing 1st Gen Smart Meters until 2020 !?

Maxwell007

Scottish Power have a great new rate Super Saver December 2020 B3 BUT they are still installing 1st Gen Smart Meters until Mid 2020 !?

Do all energy company's have this policy of waiting until 2022 for the 2nd Gens,

Which energy suppliers are putting in 2nd Gens now.

Thanks

matelodave

It really shouldn't make all that much difference, because most first gen meters will get enrolled onto the DCC and will behave in a similar manner to second generation.

It may only become an issue in the future if you want to change suppliers, but hopefully by then most of them should be transferable.

If you don't want a 1st gen, then refuse to have one - it's not really all that difficult

mac.d

The difference it does make is that if you have a 1st gen smart meter installed now, if you switch in a years time, there's no guarantee that your meter won't revert to being a dumb meter and your IHD will no longer work. (I know many people just recommend chucking the IHD in a drawer and ignoring it, but it is a handy visual guide for checking your usage).

Given the chaotic smart meter roll-out so far, does anyone really have any great confidence that these first gen meters will get enrolled onto the DCC without any issues and within a reasonable time frame? I don't see the point in getting a smart meter fitted until they are fit for purpose, it just seems a complete waste of resources and money.

JohnB47

mac.d wrote: »

Given the chaotic smart meter roll-out so far, does anyone really have any great confidence that these first gen meters will get enrolled onto the DCC without any issues and within a reasonable time frame?

I certainly don't have any real confidence. I'm holding off until I have absolute certainty that any meter installed is at least second generation.

TangoGolf

just thought I'd throw in a comment here. I have a first gen smart meter that was well installed by Eversmart. Obviously now dumb, but ever since the company ceased trading at the beginning of Sept the meter has shown the old Eversmart tariff (my current supplier does not yet support smarts). But on Monday 2 December the tariff info on the IHD went to zero so someone somewhere has remotely accessed my first gen meter. I wondered if this meant my first gen meter had been enrolled somehow on the DCC database?

matelodave

I doubt it, your meter has probably just been disconnected from the meter reading agency.

My SSE IHD stopped showing tariff info the day I swapped supplier (to IRESA I think)

It still does all the other stuff like reading the meter, telling me how much I'm using and I can find out how much energy I used last December (if I really want to know).

It saves me going outside in the wind, rain or snow to read the meter, so it's not totally useless. Even when the meter was smart, I still read it myself every Monday morning and on 1st of the month, just so I could monitor and record my consumption.

EnergyRookie

Earlier this year, a number of suppliers reported to Ofgem on their roll out plans for smart meters.

At least another 2 of the Big 6 suppliers, and a number of others all confirmed to Ofgem that they will still be installing SMETS1 meters into 2020. (based on submissions of less than 20 energy suppliers in total)

Some of the reasons provided by the suppliers included shortages of SMETS2 meters, techinical difficulties being experienced in the North of England (people in the South of England are generally more likely to receive a SMETS2 meter), and insufficient numbers of engineers trained to install SMETS2 meters.

However, Ofgem does not allow SMETS1 meters installed after March 2019 to count towards the supplier's targets/milestones in rolling out smart meters.

In September of this year, the rollout plan for smart meters (i.e. the date by which everyone must be offered a smart meter) was delayed by 4 years from 2020 to 2024

Suppliers are expected to also be enrolling all SMETS1 meters that are eligible into the DCC, regardless of when they were installed. (That means they should continue to operate in smart mode even when you switch supplier, as and when such new supplier is in a position to handle smart metering)

brewerdave

EnergyRookie wrote: »

Suppliers are expected to also be enrolling all SMETS1 meters that are eligible into the DCC, regardless of when they were installed. (That means they should continue to operate in smart mode even when you switch supplier, as and when such new supplier is in a position to handle smart metering)

….and I still haven't come across anyone on these (or any other)forums who says that their SMETS1 meter has started to supply their readings to a new supplier after a switch, so the numbers which have been successfully adopted into the DCC must be very low.

EnergyRookie

brewerdave wrote: »

….and I still haven't come across anyone on these (or any other)forums who says that their SMETS1 meter has started to supply their readings to a new supplier after a switch, so the numbers which have been successfully adopted into the DCC must be very low.

It's in progress.

e.g. Eon have started, but are saying it could be another year yet before this is completed
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=76568246&postcount=4

EnergyRookie

Organza_Lace wrote: »

Ive recently switched, cheaper tariff but on condition i have a smart meter fitted which i dont really want but the savings were too good to miss.

Now i know they are still rolling out SMET1, i dont want one that will go dumb after 12 months. I will insist that they fit me a SMET2 and if they agree, how can i be sure they havent fitted a SMET1 on the sly?

Switch supplier, and see if the new supplier uses the meter in smart mode

If not, switch to Eon in plenty of time, as they plan to update SMETS1 meters over the air within 12 months

UnclaimedEnergy

Organza_Lace wrote: »

how can i be sure they havent fitted a SMET1 on the sly?

You should be able to find the meter make and model.

This site has a list of which meters are SMET1 and SMET2: https://www.smartme.co.uk/technical.html