Octopus have switched on my electric meter smart feature without my permission

emmajones1976

victor2 said:

Daisy_Blue said:

emmajones1976 said:

Daisy_Blue said:

It's no bother to me to provide readings and yes I am concerned about the possibility that they will be able to switch off supply. 

How many documented cases have there been so far in the UK of domestic load limiting? Loads, I assume? Links?

As I said I am concerned about the possibility. I never said it has happened.

I am concerned about the possibility I might get struck by lightning. Must admit it's never happened to  me or anyone I know either though.

Ner ner I got my analogy in first!

As already said, if they wanted to shut off an entire area they would just do it from the substation anyway.

Daisy_Blue

Astria said:

I think you'll find that most suppliers (including Octopus) have the right to enable communications to/from your smart meter for various reasons, such as your credit status, which tariff you are on, and so on. Typically they will only collect monthly readings from your smart meter. They only need your permission to enable daily reads or half-hourly reads.

You can find the T&Cs here: https://octopus.energy/policies/terms-and-conditions/

But note that some tariffs have additional T&Cs. You don't say which tariff you are on.

You may find that Shell energy did also have communicate with your meter - they just didn't collect the readings from the meter.

I'm on the moved over from Avro tariff.
Ah so I've never had a dumb meter. Guess I'm stuck then. 

MWT

Daisy_Blue said:

emmajones1976 said:

Daisy_Blue said:

It's no bother to me to provide readings and yes I am concerned about the possibility that they will be able to switch off supply. 

How many documented cases have there been so far in the UK of domestic load limiting? Loads, I assume? Links?

As I said I am concerned about the possibility. I never said it has happened.

Even without a smart meter the same possibility exists, there is a well established rota to which assigns a group to all domestic and other non-essential users, and when/if needed the times for rolling blackouts would be published and the power-cuts would be managed by the Distribution Network Operators regardless of your meter being smart or dumb...

savers_united

If you have read the T&Cs and its not stated that they can activate a smart meter for readings then ask them nicely via email to stop using the smart meter readings for billing purposes and that you will happily provide them on a monthly, quarterly basis. 
But now you have the meters installed and they are not owned by you then not alot you can do if they want to communicate with them now and then. 


The only time they will remotely disconnect you if it ever was to happen is when everyone has a smart meter.

There is no way they would mandate a limit to supply or limit time of use only to those who have smart meters and leave those with dumb meters unlimited use? 


If it was to happen it is many years away by which point its likely all existing dumb meters will be past their safe operating life and removed on safety grounds and replaced by a mandatory smart meter.

In the meantime you have a dumb meter and limit your choice of tariff. 

[Deleted User]

Daisy_Blue said:

It's no bother to me to provide readings and yes I am concerned about the possibility that they will be able to switch off supply. 

Don’t believe the scaremongering posted on this website. Demand Side Response by turning off supplies is used in some countries but not, as yet, in the UK. The way that it works is that the consumer agrees to limit his/her power input at certain times of the day in exchange for a cheaper tariff. For example,  4kW during the peak period 4pm to 7pm.  (Note: I am talking about instant power not usage).If the consumer exceeds the agreed kW limit then warnings will be sent by text; IHD etc advising the consumer to turn off power. Only in extremis will power be turned off. Consumers on these type of tariffs have a dedicated reconnection telephone number. Frequent breaches will result in the consumer being moved to a less restrictive/higher cost tariff.

Suppliers do not have the legal right to turn off supply at random. It requires proper legal notification or a Court Order. For rolling power management at times of low supply, the Government will issue a Rota and turn off supplies by region not by meter. (For example, during the 3 day week in the 1970s).

PS: My local DNO turned off my electricity supply for an hour yesterday to reduce the Grid voltage. Before undertaking this work it had to write to 165 consumers notifying them of the time and duration. Failure to do so would have resulted in an automatic compensation payment of £30.

MWT

savers_united said:

If you have read the T&Cs and its not stated that they can activate a smart meter for readings then ask them nicely via email to stop using the smart meter readings for billing purposes and that you will happily provide them on a monthly, quarterly basis.

They don't need that part in the T&C, all suppliers have the right to retrieve a monthly meter reading from an installed smart meter.

The customer can refuse to share half-hour/daily readings though and Octopus provide that capability through their online account system.

savers_united

MWT said:

savers_united said:

If you have read the T&Cs and its not stated that they can activate a smart meter for readings then ask them nicely via email to stop using the smart meter readings for billing purposes and that you will happily provide them on a monthly, quarterly basis.

They don't need that part in the T&C, all suppliers have the right to retrieve a monthly meter reading from an installed smart meter.

The customer can refuse to share half-hour/daily readings though and Octopus provide that capability through their online account system.

Just read that, you are spot on. I even checked my octopus account as there are options there for how the meter communicates, there are only 3, half hour, daily or monthly. Mine defaults to half hourly due to time of use tariff. 

breva

savers_united said:

MWT said:

savers_united said:

If you have read the T&Cs and its not stated that they can activate a smart meter for readings then ask them nicely via email to stop using the smart meter readings for billing purposes and that you will happily provide them on a monthly, quarterly basis.

They don't need that part in the T&C, all suppliers have the right to retrieve a monthly meter reading from an installed smart meter.

The customer can refuse to share half-hour/daily readings though and Octopus provide that capability through their online account system.

Just read that, you are spot on. I even checked my octopus account as there are options there for how the meter communicates, there are only 3, half hour, daily or monthly. Mine defaults to half hourly due to time of use tariff. 

And can you view your meter readings via the octopus website? 

I used to be able to but have not since October last year for gas and November for electricity.  Octopus tell me it is the suppliers who manage this.  Eh?

Reed_Richards

I have an 80 Amp mains fuse.  This already rations the amount of power I can use!  We are all rationed in the same way.

Curiousgirl1

Daisy_Blue said:

It's no bother to me to provide readings and yes I am concerned about the possibility that they will be able to switch off supply. 

Why would an energy company do that unless you didn’t pay your bill but even then they would just change you to a PAYG