British Gas Smart Meters no longer working

mccaba

My Smart Meter stopped providing daily energy usage figures on 8th October.  I contacted BG via their chat service and was told the agent would deal with it personally ( haha ), and would arrange for it to be fixed remotely.    On my latest call to BG, I was told there is a problem with smart meters at the moment, as they are migrating to a new hub, and there was no indicated date for the restoration of the smart meter.   The agent said I could make a formal complaint, but then candidly pointed out that it would not make any difference!  At a time when people are very nervous about running up huge bills, I think it is completely unacceptable that BG cannot resolve this matter.   

Has anyone else had this scenario?  I have also heard from forend in other suppliers that they are experiencing the same issue.

molerat

It is a fairly common scenario and on par for the abysmal smart meter programme in this country.  Read your meter and submit readings just like in the old days.

MattMattMattUK

mccaba said:

My Smart Meter stopped providing daily energy usage figures on 8th October.  I contacted BG via their chat service and was told the agent would deal with it personally ( haha ), and would arrange for it to be fixed remotely.    On my latest call to BG, I was told there is a problem with smart meters at the moment, as they are migrating to a new hub, and there was no indicated date for the restoration of the smart meter.   The agent said I could make a formal complaint, but then candidly pointed out that it would not make any difference!  At a time when people are very nervous about running up huge bills, I think it is completely unacceptable that BG cannot resolve this matter.   

Has anyone else had this scenario?  I have also heard from forend in other suppliers that they are experiencing the same issue.

There is a known issue, it is not a matter that British Gas can resolve on their own, they are having to work with the regulator as well as the DCC, it will take time. There is also an ongoing issue that many suppliers are having with IHDs, which it would appear within their power but they are choosing not to.

You still retain the ability to monitor your usage though, you can check your usage on the meter, it will just not report that automatically.

[Deleted User]

Suppliers ‘pull’ data from smart meters using what is known as DCC- approved Adapter (secure) software.

If you install the App BRIGHT, you can see if it is a problem with your smart meters or BG’s systems. BRIGHT uses its own Adapter software to pull data from your meters.

[Deleted User]

Why is it unacceptable?  If the readings are still on the meter, you can still see them.

Inconvenient perhaps, but what would you expect a complaint to do?

And to answer directly - my electricity meter reports ok, gas meter stopped when I changed supplier and now works on Bright but not the supplier's website.

Edit: I also have noticed a big spike in reports of issues with BG on here recently, often due to the new system.  It seems troublesome.

jacko220

I saw the first smart meter in use in 1992 at the Integer House at the Building Research Establishment at Garston in Watford, while home automation is nice, I was able to turn on the lights and blinds in the house from 5 miles distance, it looked a gimmick.

I have a spreadsheet which can tell me at a moments notice what my bill will be, have too change it now four times a year with new data on prices. I even ask questions about the bill before they have sent it, like why am I paying 20% for standing charges, it is not an energy crisis.

I suppose it does help having lectured in the subject for nearly 40 years.

mccaba

I appreciate that I can take my own readings, and do so.  However, there are a lot of people out there who for various reasons possibly can't.   I was given the run around on a number of chats with BG before I got some sort of explanation.   Perhaps it would have helped if BG ( and others) had communicated this information to their customers.

[Deleted User]

I have a spreadsheet which can tell me at a moments notice what my bill will be, have too change it now four times a year with new data on prices.

Will your spreadsheet enable you to select the cheapest time-of-use based on both the annual amount of energy that you use and when you have chosen to use it?

BEIS has already produced tools to enable comparisons to be made using 12 month’s worth of smart meter data.

jacko220

[Deleted User] said:

I have a spreadsheet which can tell me at a moments notice what my bill will be, have too change it now four times a year with new data on prices.

Will your spreadsheet enable you to select the cheapest time-of-use based on both the annual amount of energy that you use and when you have chosen to use it?

BEIS has already produced tools to enable comparisons to be made using 12 month’s worth of smart meter data.

No my brain and intelligence will

MattMattMattUK

jacko220 said:

[Deleted User] said:

I have a spreadsheet which can tell me at a moments notice what my bill will be, have too change it now four times a year with new data on prices.

Will your spreadsheet enable you to select the cheapest time-of-use based on both the annual amount of energy that you use and when you have chosen to use it?

BEIS has already produced tools to enable comparisons to be made using 12 month’s worth of smart meter data.

No my brain and intelligence will

Your brain will allow you to analyse several thousand different data points against multiple ToU tariff options when you do not have access to those datapoints without accessing the smart meter data?