British Gas smart meters and switching to a new supplier

couth

Hello everyone. I have British Gas smart meters which were installed a couple of years ago, for both electricity and gas, and I'm with BG for dual fuel. I am planning to switch to a new supplier early December, when I can leave BG with no penalty. MSE energy club displays the highest savings vs my current dual fuel tariff, for these: 

• E.ON Fix Online Exclusive v55
• Shell Energy Energy January 2022 v4
• ScottishPower Super Saver December 2021 B1

The e.on and the Scottish Power ones are 'Smart Meter' tariffs, the Shell Energy one is not.
- If I choose E.ON or Scottish Power, will they replace my BG smart meters, or perhaps the current ones work across all suppliers and I can keep them? 
- If I choose Shell Energy, will my current smart meters remain 'smart', or will I need to submit readings manually? 
Thank you. 

Neil_Jones

Depends on the supplier (and the meter to an extent).  If its a 2nd generation meter it should remain smart across all suppliers (that's was theory, but on occasion this doesn't happen).  A first generation one almost certainly go dumb if you change provider, unless its had a firmware upgrade to make it think its a 2nd generation one.

If your meters are smart and Shell can talk to smart meters (which they must be able to as they're making mention of rolling them out) they should remain smart.  Otherwise you go back to manual readings.  The meters themselves are almost certainly not going to be replaced and will probably stay until they either pack up or require replacing as per the normal cycle.

[Deleted User]

By the sound of it, you have SMETS1 smart meters. The Government has a programme running to manage the enrolment and adoption of these meters by the DCC. To date, 3 Million SMETS1 meters have been adopted. Once adopted, the meter will work with all DCC Users (suppliers and third-parties). Your SMETS 1 meter will only be replaced if it cannot be adopted by the DCC. Your present supplier should be able to tell you if your meter has been adopted. Adoption is happening in tranches.

couth

Thanks, I just checked the meters and they are these models: gas Landis+Gyr G470-671 and electricity Landis+Gyr E470.. are they first or second generation?

[Deleted User]

L & G’s smart meter models are somewhat confusing as they have SMETS1 and SMETS2 E470 models. You can check here:

https://www.smartme.co.uk/technical.html

If you sign up to a N3rgy.com account, you can see whether your meter is connected to the DCC.

OR, alternatively, take the easy route and call your present supplier and just ask.