EDF temporarily pulled Ev tarrifs

middlewife

As it says, bet the new ones will be through the roof. Currently trying to switch to Octopus but its VERY slow process, then I can switch to go, They have said provided I can get on board by 1st September then my rate will be fixed for a year....

[Deleted User]

All Octopus time-of-use tariffs are fixed for a year. Moving to a time-of-use tariff is a staged process. Firstly, you have to switch to Octopus. They then have to take control of your smart meter; set up 30 minute profiling and run it for a period to ensure that they are getting an XML file from the meter with 48 by 30 minute usage data. If they are happy that the data flow is stable, Octopus will then move you to Go. Remember all bills are based on usage data not meter index readings. The loss of one 30 minute data segment prevents automatic billing. Sadly, that does happen. As Go is a beta tariff, Octopus reserves the right to switch you to Octopus Flexible if there are data issues.

middlewife

Fingers crossed it all works then, really after a TOU tarrif as I am running an  EV and have to do twice the expected mileage for the foreseeable, hence twice the cost which now makes a TOU cheaper, for now, anyway...

The_Groat_Counter

Dolor said:

All Octopus time-of-use tariffs are fixed for a year. Moving to a time-of-use tariff is a staged process. Firstly, you have to switch to Octopus. They then have to take control of your smart meter; set up 30 minute profiling and run it for a period to ensure that they are getting an XML file from the meter with 48 by 30 minute usage data. If they are happy that the data flow is stable, Octopus will then move you to Go. Remember all bills are based on usage data not meter index readings. The loss of one 30 minute data segment prevents automatic billing. Sadly, that does happen. As Go is a beta tariff, Octopus reserves the right to switch you to Octopus Flexible if there are data issues.

Out of interest, in practice what happens billing wise if Octopus does fail to gather one of the 30 minute data segments?

I don't know enough about smart meters, but does the 30 minute profiling depend upon the smart meter always managing to connect and send data every half an hour? Because cell masts do inevitably go down or fail to offer data connectivity for short periods (and there will be similar issues in the northern Arqiva-run DCC zone).

QrizB

The_Groat_Counter said:

Out of interest, in practice what happens billing wise if Octopus does fail to gather one of the 30 minute data segments?

Once they catch up, they bill you. I don't know quite what happens if they can't catch up (eg. your meter is destroyed in a freak gardening accident).

The_Groat_Counter said:

I don't know enough about smart meters, but does the 30 minute profiling depend upon the smart meter always managing to connect and send data every half an hour?

No, the meter stores 6(?) months of data and only requires infrequent connection to the network.

[Deleted User]

The_Groat_Counter said:

Dolor said:

All Octopus time-of-use tariffs are fixed for a year. Moving to a time-of-use tariff is a staged process. Firstly, you have to switch to Octopus. They then have to take control of your smart meter; set up 30 minute profiling and run it for a period to ensure that they are getting an XML file from the meter with 48 by 30 minute usage data. If they are happy that the data flow is stable, Octopus will then move you to Go. Remember all bills are based on usage data not meter index readings. The loss of one 30 minute data segment prevents automatic billing. Sadly, that does happen. As Go is a beta tariff, Octopus reserves the right to switch you to Octopus Flexible if there are data issues.

Out of interest, in practice what happens billing wise if Octopus does fail to gather one of the 30 minute data segments?

I don't know enough about smart meters, but does the 30 minute profiling depend upon the smart meter always managing to connect and send data every half an hour? Because cell masts do inevitably go down or fail to offer data connectivity for short periods (and there will be similar issues in the northern Arqiva-run DCC zone).

Smart meters are connected to the DCC Network but not in constant contact with the supplier. Once a day, usually c.2AM, Octopus will initiate a data ‘pull’ from your smart meter via its Adapter provider TMA. 

The meter returns index readings and a XML file containing 48 packets of 30 minute data. If any single packet is lost or corrupted, Octopus’ systems will not raise an automatic monthly statement. The team will then attempt a manual data pull to recover the missing data - usually, after the consumer has given them a nudge. As I said, for 7 months last year, a meter firmware update resulted in some meters returning empty XML files which made billing based on 30 minute usage rather tricky for some customers.

Smart meters retain 13 months of import data and 3 months of export data. The former is important as future price/tariff comparisons will be based on a ‘pull’ of 12 months’ data. This will allow the consumer to select the cheapest time-of-use tariff.

stewie_griffin

A switch at the moment should take about 3 weeks. Have Octopus explained the delay to you? The next phase of faster switching is expected to go live later this month, which will enable 24 hour switching. I’m not sure if all suppliers will be able to offer this straight away or if there will be certain conditions.

middlewife

EDF lodged an objection as i was paying off debt from last year, Annoyingly i owed them around £200 but THEY have overcharged me to the tune of £1200, not impressed. So there was a 5 day delay while EDF dragged their heels, but still getting conflicting switch dates so will see. The CSA said that once I've switched to their SVR I need to wait 2 weeks, but I will keep trying every day, then ther's a further transition period of 2 to 4 weeks before they can start me on GO, which seems a little nonsensical with Smart Meters...

QrizB

middlewife said:

... then ther's a further transition period of 2 to 4 weeks before they can start me on GO, which seems a little nonsensical with Smart Meters...

Not all smart meters are created equal. Octopus can't switvch you to a smart TOU tariff like Go until they have confirmed that they can reliably get 30-minute data from your meter. Hence the delay.

Swipe

That EV not looking such a great purchase now?

MWT

Swipe said:

That EV not looking such a great purchase now?

Still looking pretty good to me with the way petrol prices are going...