3 year old smart meter not solar compatible

dibbydoos

Saga... 1st Nov had solar and battery fitted as we bought an eV. All intentions to move to Octopus, but got caught up in Planet Energy demise and told not to move. I didn't register the solar cos I didnt know I needed to!

Anyways, my tarriff went from fixed to standard. Shell didn't notify tarriffs until my first bill when they took all my credit for the bill. This confused me cos I have solar, so when I checked, I'd sent 200kWh to the grid, self consumed the rest and it left 300kWh of purchases. I was charged for 500kWh.

Long story short, I can't move to Octopus cos they can't read my meter. WHAT?! A 3 year old house with a not so smart meter, Ofgem what are you doing allowing these meters to be installed and worse still in todays day and age not solar compatible??? Shell are so difficult to talk to. Got passed from pillar to post then they offered to replace my meters. Great, I thought. I can then move to Octopus. But 1st appointment fitter is poorly. Now waiting for appointment 2..... Our energy crisis isn't just about costs going up.... And with a spend of £9k on solar and battery I'm rather grumpy about it. Shell hasn't said how itll resolve the issue of overpayment which continues! Imagine what my summer bill will look like if I don't get these meters fitted 😱

Based on my mums experience at EON, she's on her 4th appointment, it's taken about 5m so far to fit a smart meter....

Anyone got any advice please?

MWT

We do not have net metering in the UK, so from what you describe the problem is you are not getting paid for your export?

You are always going to get billed for the amount you import (500kWh) but you should get paid for the export but usually at a much lower rate than the cost of your imports.

Have you asked Shell to get an export MPAN for you and put you on their SEG tariff?

Which meter do you have at the moment?

QrizB

dibbydoos said:

Anyone got any advice please?

It's not entirely clear what your question is.

Anyways, my tarriff went from fixed to standard. Shell didn't notify tarriffs until my first bill when they took all my credit for the bill. This confused me cos I have solar, so when I checked, I'd sent 200kWh to the grid, self consumed the rest and it left 300kWh of purchases. I was charged for 500kWh.

Shell should have charged you for your import. What makes you say that you imported 300kWh but were charges for 500kWh? Can you share your leter readings and billing details?

Long story short, I can't move to Octopus cos they can't read my meter. WHAT?!

What is the make and model of your meter? Can you see your smart meter data at http://www.n3rgy.com/ or on the Hildebrand Bright app?

Shell are so difficult to talk to. Got passed from pillar to post then they offered to replace my meters. Great, I thought. I can then move to Octopus. But 1st appointment fitter is poorly. Now waiting for appointment 2..... 

People get ill. It happens.

Our energy crisis isn't just about costs going up.... And with a spend of £9k on solar and battery I'm rather grumpy about it.

Grumpy about what, exactly?

[Deleted User]

I doubt that many people on this forum will have much sympathy for you. PV solar and an EV were your choices. PV solar is reducing your import bill and, with present fuel prices, your EV is also saving you money. FWiW, I have been an Octopus customer for 4 years: Octopus’ smart team is one of the best but like all suppliers installations are normally carried out by third-parties. 

I have to say that I am surprised that Octopus has agreed to replace your meter. In most cases, all that is required is a firmware update to make the meter compatible with the DCC network. Who are you talking to at Octopus? Not all CS staff are smart meter trained.

MWT

[Deleted User] said:

I have to say that I am surprised that Octopus has agreed to replace your meter. In most cases, all that is required is a firmware update to make the meter compatible with the DCC network. Who are you talking to at Octopus? Not all CS staff are smart meter trained.

I think the OP is still with Shell at this point... ?

[Deleted User]

MWT said:

[Deleted User] said:

I have to say that I am surprised that Octopus has agreed to replace your meter. In most cases, all that is required is a firmware update to make the meter compatible with the DCC network. Who are you talking to at Octopus? Not all CS staff are smart meter trained.

I think the OP is still with Shell at this point... ?

As per the OP’s post, how would he know that Octopus cannot read his smart meter if he hasn’t contacted them? As I am sure you know, Octopus can still access unadopted Secure SMETS1 meters. I did however misread the line that Shell had agreed to replace the meters which I find somewhat surprising given they may be fined for doing so. Thanks for pointing my misread.

MWT

I agree, it is strange, let's see if a few more details about the meter might make the issue clearer...

Spies

I don't think this is actually much of an issue as you'll be exporting very little. 

MWT

dibbydoos said:

... so when I checked, I'd sent 200kWh to the grid

Spies said:

I don't think this is actually much of an issue as you'll be exporting very little. 

I guess the OP night feel otherwise on that one, 200kWh is a lot to ignore...