Smart meter - changing supplier

HelenHarpsOn

Hello, I have been with Scottish Power for sometime  and they have fitted a electricity Smart meter in my home. I've been shopping around for a better deal and I'm just wondering if I switched supplier would scottish power have to uninstall the smart meter and a new supplier have to install a new one?
Ive heard this being done with a friend of mine who signed up to look after my bills.

[Deleted User]

HelenHarpsOn said:

Hello, I have been with Scottish Power for sometime  and they have fitted a electricity Smart meter in my home. I've been shopping around for a better deal and I'm just wondering if I switched supplier would scottish power have to uninstall the smart meter and a new supplier have to install a new one?
Ive heard this being done with a friend of mine who signed up to look after my bills.

It doesn’t work like that. There are two specifications of smart meter in use. SMETS1 and SMETS2. SMETS2 meters will remain connected to The DCC when you switch supplier. SMETS1 meters may become dumb until your supplier has enrolled your meter with the DCC: this requires an over-the-air firmware upgrade. This upgrade process has already started but as yet it is not complete. Your new supplier takes on the responsibility for your meters after switch.

ASavvyBuyer

Also, don't be tempted to sign up with "Look After My Bills" or any autoswitching service. They won't find the best deal for you, just the ones they get a commission from.

Robin9

Do not do as your friend has done and involve LAMB or any other similar company.

There is no difference in the change of supplier process whether you have SMETS2 SMETS1 or one of Edison's original meters. They all involve you reading the meter as part of the process. 

jbuchanangb

I have experience of being with SP, leaving them, using two other suppliers, then back to SP. All with SP's SMETS1 smart meter installed. No problem at all. Gave SP the opening readings when I moved into the house. Switched to supplier A 17 days later, and gave them the readings. Regularly entered the readings onto Supplier A's web site until I decided to switch to supplier B. Trouble free switch to Supplier B. While with suppliers A & B they could not collect the readings from the smart meters, but I could read them off the IHD and enter them online.
Then decided to switch again, to Scottish Power. They recognised me as a previous customer, activated a new energy account on my existing online account (so the old one and the new one are there), and the meters regained their smartness! There was a minor incident when they couldn't read the smart meter after one or two months, but that was sorted out after a couple of calls to the help line. As long as you can handle reading the meters yourself and entering them online when the smart meters go dumb, there's nothing to fear.

vman

No experience with SP, but I had an eOn smart meter fitted, I then switched to Bulb who didn't support smart meters at the time of switching but it did magically start working midway through my term with them when they did start supporting them without even contacting me. I've now switched to Green who also didn't support smart meters but I believe they have just started - so hopefully the same will happen again.

[Deleted User]

The ‘magic’ as you put it was the enrolment and adoption of your SMETS1 meter by the DCC. Going forward, your meter should remain smart when you switch suppliers.

If you want to see if the DCC is now receiving your smart meter data then look at N3rgy.com. All you need is your MPAN and your IHD number.