Electricity Meter - Certification run out......

Dorediva_2

We have received an email from our energy provider So Energy saying that our electricity meter certification has run out and they want to exchange it for a Smart meter. After reading the comments in another thread about the issues around Smart meters, their installation and running, we are quite happy to stay with submitting our readings manually.      A couple of questions 1. Can we have our current meter recertified.......they are saying that it is a legal requirement to replace it? 2. Do we have to have it replaced with a Smart meter?

TimSynths

Just ignore them.

From Today's Times-

Energy smart meter scare tactics | Money | The Sunday Times (thetimes.co.uk)

David Mills has a standard electricity meter with E.On. He never thought too much about it, and resisted the many messages from E.On over the years asking him to replace his old analogue device with a smart meter.

That was until one letter made him reconsider making the switch. In it, E.On told the former Sunday Times journalist, 59, that his meter had “reached the end of it’s (sic) life and is no longer working safely. You need to book an appointment for a new meter now.”

It added: “We’re obliged by law to keep your meter safe so we’ll keep sending you reminders at regular intervals to book an appointment until we can exchange your meter.”

The supplier, one of Britain’s “big six” along with British Gas, EDF Energy, Npower, Scottish Power and SSE, said that it would install a “shiny new meter” that would automatically submit readings for free. Mills, who lives near Bungay in Suffolk, was bewildered. Was his meter unsafe?

When questioned by Money, E.On said that its meters were not unsafe but that Mills’s meter, originally installed in 2002, was reaching the end of its lifespan and might not work effectively.

The government has told energy suppliers that they must install smart meters and they have been given targets.

Mills said the letter was “intended to scare me into having a replacement meter”.

He had not wanted a smart meter because of problems with some of the models. Some customers found that they did not work if they switched supplier, although most newer versions are now more compatible.

E.On said: “These letters are not in response to any specific incident and there is no need for any undue concern among customers.”

The regulator Ofgem said that energy meters have a certification date (essentially a best before date) set by the Office for Product Safety and Standards because they can stop functioning properly after about 15-20 years. Suppliers have to replace them before that date.

If you do not want your meter to submit readings automatically, you can get your supplier to turn off the smart function remotely. Once decommissioned, it won’t be operational as a smart meter unless it gets re-commissioned by the supplier.

QrizB

Welcome to the forum.

Dorediva_2 said:

1. Can we have our current meter recertified.......they are saying that it is a legal requirement to replace it?

Yor supplier is responsiuble for your meter. They can replace you meter at any time, for any reason.

2. Do we have to have it replaced with a Smart meter?

Unless your home is one of the few that is not suitable for a smart meter, any replacement meter will be smart. You don't get a choice.

[Deleted User]

BEIS has allowed suppliers to fit smart meters in end-of-life meter situations since the summer of 2020. BEIS accepted the argument that suppliers have a legal obligation to replace meters that have passed their certification date, and suppliers already have a legal right to apply to a Court for an entry warrant. Moreover, many suppliers no longer have access to any stock of analogue meters.

Meters are certificated for a given period when they are first manufactured. Based on in use failure rates, and physical testing of some end-of-life removed meters for accuracy etc, the meter manufacturer may apply for an extension to the original certification period for meters in use. There is no system in place for a supplier to test an in use analogue meter and re-certificate it.

Finally, according to one industry contact, there is no such thing as a fully decommissioned smart meter. Suppliers need to know for example when the battery in the gas meter needs to be replaced. In ‘decommissioned mode’ the supplier will just not ‘pull’ any smart readings from the meter, and these will have to be provided by the consumer.  

wild666

A friend has resisted for years, his analogue meters are 40 years old and he has told his suppliers that they have to prove that there is a fault with the meters without removing them as his readings have being the same for the last 40 years. No more than 126 kWh for his electric per month and no more than 250 kWh, in winter, for his gas . 
If he stays in he either reads, listens to the radio, his hobby is photography so many days he spends out taking pictures. 

Mobtr

Don’t understand people who don’t want smart meters because they’ve heard they may not work as smart when changing suppliers, or they don’t send the readings to the energy company so want to keep their old one. Do they not realise 
if a meter is not working in smart mode, it is just the same as their old meter? Or they can continue taking their own readings? 

molerat

Mobtr said:

Don’t understand people who don’t want smart meters because they’ve heard they may not work as smart when changing suppliers, or they don’t send the readings to the energy company so want to keep their old one. Do they not realise 
if a meter is not working in smart mode, it is just the same as their old meter? Or they can continue taking their own readings? 

It is not necessarily a smart meter that people don't want, most would be happy if the current generation of meters and metering system was fit for purpose.  As it stands that is not the case.  When it comes to the fallback "read your own meter" that seems to be made as difficult as possible.

Robin9

Dorediva_2 said:

We have received an email from our energy provider So Energy saying that our electricity meter certification has run out and they want to exchange it for a Smart meter. After reading the comments in another thread about the issues around Smart meters, their installation and running, we are quite happy to stay with submitting our readings manually.      A couple of questions 1. Can we have our current meter recertified.......they are saying that it is a legal requirement to replace it? 2. Do we have to have it replaced with a Smart meter?

In the old days re-certification always was a back to manufacturer or the retest at one of the Area Boards own Testing Station - both involved replacing the existing meter - testing  onsite was not and is not an option. 

MWT

wild666 said:

A friend has resisted for years, his analogue meters are 40 years old and he has told his suppliers that they have to prove that there is a fault with the meters without removing them as his readings have being the same for the last 40 years.

Interesting approach, but the suppliers have no obligation to follow his instructions and can force the issue any time they want.

TimSynths said:

If you do not want your meter to submit readings automatically, you can get your supplier to turn off the smart function remotely. Once decommissioned, it won’t be operational as a smart meter unless it gets re-commissioned by the supplier.

That is no longer a consumer right, as a minimum suppliers are entitled to collect a monthly meter reading from any smart meter. The customer can however restrict routine access to half-hourly data if they wish, but that is likely to change as well as the push towards half-hour settlement for suppliers continues. 

Mobtr

molerat said:

Mobtr said:

Don’t understand people who don’t want smart meters because they’ve heard they may not work as smart when changing suppliers, or they don’t send the readings to the energy company so want to keep their old one. Do they not realise 
if a meter is not working in smart mode, it is just the same as their old meter? Or they can continue taking their own readings? 

It is not necessarily a smart meter that people don't want, most would be happy if the current generation of meters and metering system was fit for purpose.  As it stands that is not the case.  When it comes to the fallback "read your own meter" that seems to be made as difficult as possible.

It’s like a lot of things when they are first introduced, mobile phones, internet etc none work perfectly but in time things improve. A lot of people are against smart meters as they just hear the horror stories. They don’t hear about the 100,000’s that are installed that work perfectly fine & help in reducing energy consumption when it’s now really needed. 

[Deleted User]

Mobtr said:

It’s like a lot of things when they are first introduced, mobile phones, internet etc none work perfectly but in time things improve. A lot of people are against smart meters as they just hear the horror stories. They don’t hear about the 100,000’s that are installed that work perfectly fine & help in reducing energy consumption when it’s now really needed. 

‘At the end of March 2022, there were 28.8 million smart and advanced meters in Great Britain in homes and small businesses.1 Of these, 25.2 million were smart meters operating in smart mode or advanced meters. This means that 45% of all meters were smart in smart mode or advanced meters, with a further 6% of meters being smart meters in traditional mode. In total 51% of meters operating were smart or advanced meters’

Source: Ofgem