smart meter installed in late 2019. bills just keep going up.

jlemaitre

Im with SSE. late 2019 after being pestered for years to get a SM i gave in. they fit it and no issues. months went by, they need upped my bills a bit.

then they upped it an extra £10 a month, I then had a statement which told me im £120ish in credit, I call them and asked for the money to be refunded to me. All was ok until the following month. Then they emailed me to say they need to up it an extra £23, then the following month they emailed me to say they to say they need to put my bills up an extra £5. 

It has stayed at £114 a month for the last 5 months. my account was £7 in debit last week, This week i was over £150 in credit(assuming because im over paying, I think) I thought great i'll call them next week to get my money back. Today I receive an email saying they need to put my bills up an extra £5. now my account is  £161.89 in debit.


What a confusing mess. I'll be calling them tomorrow as they've really messed something up. I thought smart meters were the future. Clearly not!

My monthly bill usage is actually just shy of £80 in the summer months. Im using roughly £2.40-£2.80 or energy a day.


A quick summary of actual usage.

July 21.     £76.21
June 21.   £75.74
May 21.    £93.95
April 21.   £94.70

I'll get a meter reading in a few mins ready for tomorrow.

Anyone else have a billing issue with SM since installation?

QrizB

Do you have a record of your meter readings for the past three years?

How many kWh per day does your smart meter think you are using?

What tariff are you on? How many pence per kWh and what daily charge?

How big is your property, how many people live in it, is it mains electric & mains gas?

dunstonh

I call them and asked for the money to be refunded to me.

If that credit was your summer credit then you leave yourself short for the winter.   So, it is inevitable that the billing will go up as you have taken back a chunk of it.

It has stayed at £114 a month for the last 5 months. my account was £7 in debit last week,

Energy costs have been rising.  Did you increase your payment at all during the period of increases?

What a confusing mess. I'll be calling them tomorrow as they've really messed something up. I thought smart meters were the future. Clearly not!

Or possibly no error and your previous history prior to the smart ready was estimates and you have underestimated your real use and you are now seeing the reality.   

jlemaitre

no

unsure 

standard, unsure, and no fixed daily charge between £2.40-£2.80 seems average.

2 bedrrom coachouse, 3 people(one child) and yes both electric and gas(gas bill is £39.00)

jlemaitre

some info

reading 09862 kwh
act tariff price 19.84 kwh
standing charge 0.28
meter balance 5.69

QrizB

jlemaitre said:

no

unsure 

standard, unsure, and no fixed daily charge between £2.40-£2.80 seems average.

2 bedrrom coachouse, 3 people(one child) and yes both electric and gas(gas bill is £39.00)

OK, look back at your last few bills. They will tell you your meter readings (and whether they were Actual or Estimated), how much electricity you were billed for and what the tariff is.

Please post the info here and we can give you a sanity check, at least.

SSE's standard variable tariff changes slightly depending where in the country you are, but for me in Southern region it's 18.83p/kWh and 24.12 pence per day. If you're spending £80/month that's around 400kWh per month which is quite a lot for a property with gas heating. I'd hope to use half that in the summer months.

victor2

You are billed for the kWh you use, with the cost spread out over the year if paying by DD.

Do not think in pounds money, think in kWh. Look at your historical readings and statements/bills. The smart meter(s) should be accurate, were there a lot of estimated readings before they were installed. If so, you are comparing apples with oranges.

If you are on a variable rate tariff, prices have gone up significantly this year.

jlemaitre

i do have a 3 foot marine tank. but surely that wont use much. 

5 plugs on 24/7
2 plug on roughly 12/7


i did post my actual usage in £ in the first post.

I dont understand how a new build coachouse can use so much electricity, No ive not increased anything I dont touch it. Just pay the bills and moan when i get the email that the bill is going up.


So

March 21 £101.57
Feb 21 £92.56
Jan 21 £102.80

Dec 20 £90.37
Nov 20 £83.10
oct 20 £8.11
Sept 20 £77.52
Aug 20 £73.74


so thats a years worth of actual usage(but obviously been paying £81 a month until March 21(then the £5 increase as moneY grabbing b*stards)

then £114 April onwards. Now Sept 21 will be £119.

Robin9

jlemaitre said:

some info

reading 09862 kwh
act tariff price 19.84 kwh
standing charge 0.28
meter balance 5.69

When your meter was installed (in late 2019) it would have read  00000.0    It's now August 2021 so 9862 units in 20 months = that's 6000 a year (on the high side for a gas heated house - do you have a electric shower ?)  @ 19.84 (that's a very expensive tariff)  thats £1200 a year plus VAT and standing charges  about £110 a month.  Look very closely at what you are using  - ignore the phone chargers, PC;s  - this is about electric heating, water heating, showers.

jlemaitre

dug out 10 may 2021 statement

i owed £136.28
your payments thank you £331.00
your adjustments £80.72
balance £114.00 credit

total charges this statement £349.13

the balance i owe is £235.13(remember they owed me about £120ish in March ish time)


back of statement

last reading 6655
this reading 8500
total used 1845 kwh


so theyre saying( 10th May my reading was 8500, just shy of 3 months later its actual 9862) so what 1363 kwh in just under 3 months? 

jlemaitre

Robin9 said:

jlemaitre said:

some info

reading 09862 kwh
act tariff price 19.84 kwh
standing charge 0.28
meter balance 5.69

When your meter was installed (in late 2019) it would have read  00000.0    It's now August 2021 so 9862 units in 20 months = that's 6000 a year (on the high side for a gas heated house - do you have a electric shower ?)  @ 19.84 (that's a very expensive tariff)  thats £1200 a year plus VAT and standing charges  about £110 a month.  Look very closely at what you are using  - ignore the phone chargers, PC;s  - this is about electric heating, water heating, showers.

no shower.

I did mention i have a marine tank above....

rads are off and have been since April, So 4 months now. Boiler still on,

If the smart meter is accurate surely my bills will be all over the place month by month? not almost about £40 more each month.