Forced to take a Smartmeter but will be worse off for it

oliverbrown

Dolor said:

Increasingly, we will see all suppliers offering just time of use tariffs. 

That will be quite some way off. There could be a point where smart meter users are forced to have a time of use tariff though.

[Deleted User]

oliverbrown said:

Dolor said:

Increasingly, we will see all suppliers offering just time of use tariffs. 

That will be quite some way off. There could be a point where smart meter users are forced to have a time of use tariff though.

What leads you to conclude that? BEIS has already paid £400k for the development of a time-of-use tariff comparison tool. A number of us were given access to it a year ago. Ofgem is also about to make 30 minute smart meter usage profiling the default smart meter set up.

oliverbrown

Dolor said:

What leads you to conclude that?

I didn't conclude it, I merely suggested it as a possibility.

Curiousgirl1

@[Deleted User] I don’t understand your graph. Is it indicating that you used zero electricity until about 8pm yesterday 

oliverbrown

Dolor said:

What leads you to conclude that?

If you meant my first sentence, you said "offering just time of use tariffs", i.e. time of use tariffs only. This would exclude a considerable number of traditional meter users whom I'm sure energy suppliers would not want to exclude from their business.

[Deleted User]

Curiousgirl1 said:

@[Deleted User] I don’t understand your graph. Is it indicating that you used zero electricity until about 8pm yesterday 

I only buy in electricity at off peak to charge a battery; charge an EV; run washing machines etc at 5p/kWh. 

From the Government’s Energy White Paper (December 2020).

Quote: Smarter Tariff – Smarter Comparison, Vital Energi

Vital Energi is leading a consortium of experts to develop a comparison tool that gives consumers an easy way to find the most suitable smart tariff. Smart tariffs are often not included on price comparison websites and consumers have little visibility of their benefits. For example, many electric vehicle owners are unaware that there are dozens of tariffs designed specifically for them.

Supported with government funding, the project is developing a tool which will help people find the best smart tariff to match their needs. Consumers can use their actual smart meter data as an input to get personalised, accurate comparisons and, after they switch, see if they have achieved the expected savings. It eliminates the need to manually provide estimated electricity bills and integrates time- of-use tariffs and use of low-carbon technologies in the tariff search. Consumer research indicates that many people would be more likely to use a smart comparison tool such as this.

At the end of the project in March 2021, the proof of concept will be free for anyone to reuse. This means that suppliers, comparison websites and others will be able to integrate it into their services or reuse it. The research findings will be made public so they can be used by innovators in the market. Unquote

I believe, given recent events in the energy market, that UK  time of use tariffs will be the norm sooner rather than later.

QrizB

[Deleted User] said:

Curiousgirl1 said:

@[Deleted User] I don’t understand your graph. Is it indicating that you used zero electricity until about 8pm yesterday 

I only buy in electricity at off peak to charge a battery; charge an EV; run washing machines etc at 5p/kWh.

I do something similar and mine looks a bit like this:

wild666

[Deleted User] said:

oliverbrown said:

[Deleted User] said:

Increasingly, we will see all suppliers offering just time of use tariffs. 

That will be quite some way off. There could be a point where smart meter users are forced to have a time of use tariff though.

What leads you to conclude that? BEIS has already paid £400k for the development of a time-of-use tariff comparison tool. A number of us were given access to it a year ago. Ofgem is also about to make 30 minute smart meter usage profiling the default smart meter set up.

My SoLR, Octopus, has the SMETS 1 meter reading in 30 minute intervals. I decided to do this when it offered to change how my meter reading was done, I held out little hope of this method of reading happening as I had tried to get this method with Bulb in 2019 and it didn't work. Now I only have to put in a reading for gas as it reads in units, 1 unit being around 11.4 kWh. I can then work out my bill before. if ever it is produced.
 

Astria

QrizB said:

[Deleted User] said:

Curiousgirl1 said:

@[Deleted User] I don’t understand your graph. Is it indicating that you used zero electricity until about 8pm yesterday 

I only buy in electricity at off peak to charge a battery; charge an EV; run washing machines etc at 5p/kWh.

I do something similar and mine looks a bit like this:

So do some companies now allow you to download your usage data? Or are you using a separate energy monitor?

I was told by EDF that the only way to get the data from the smart meter was the in-home display, and it wasn't possible to export that data to a PC, however I could take photographs of the IHD for my records! At which point I said it was pointless booking the time off work to have one installed as it would provide no benefit for me. They didn't seem to agree with my reasoning but eventually agreed.

QrizB

Astria said:

So do some companies now allow you to download your usage data? Or are you using a separate energy monitor?

I was told by EDF that the only way to get the data from the smart meter was the in-home display, and it wasn't possible to export that data to a PC, however I could take photographs of the IHD for my records! At which point I said it was pointless booking the time off work to have one installed as it would provide no benefit for me. They didn't seem to agree with my reasoning but eventually agreed.

My chart is a screenshot from my Octopus account, but yes they let customers download their smart meter data as a .csv file.

I was previously with EDF (until September) and I could also download my data from them, via the "My account" page on their website.