Extorting Economy 7 Users

TC56_803_9

Passed by Congress in the States in 2007 was this little gem " ....Deployment of 'smart' technologies (real-time, automated, interactive technologies that optimize the physical operation of appliances and consumer devices)....."  sure, they are not turning my dishwasher on and off just now, but I am not betting on it not arriving real soon. Optimize...turn my device off until demand on the grid falls and then it can be switched on.  It is them doing automatically what Economy 7 asked me to do in the 1980s.  I had a cheaper electricity bill for helping balance the load.

[Deleted User]

I struggle to see the relevance of a definition of the word 'smart' in a fifteen year old document from part of another country's government.

TC56_803_9

You are perfectly entitled to struggle with whatever you want and I respect your endeavours. 

For my own travails, I just rang Shell for a single tariff and a very surly operator told me, after going through all the security, that her system was down and she could not help me and if I wanted to I could ring back in 2 hours when she hoped her system might be working.

I could have been transported back to accompanying my mother into the electricity board offices after catching a bus into the city in the 1960s for the replica of "I could not care less" attitude of the staff.

TC56_803_9

Well that was all a lot of hard work. Shell's call centre is poor even by call centre standards.  Eventually 49.17 p standing charge and 33.97p per kWh for all hours and there was no change between December and January.  So that should be an annualised saving of around £140 over the increase they were applying to Economy 7 users from January.

Elsewhere on the web site I read "We're taking part in the Demand Flexibility Service."  Apparently it is a national trial to change patterns of electricity usage - who'd have thunk it?

" Then, all you have to do is opt into the event and reduce your usual electricity consumption during the hours specified - for example, saving your use of high-consumption appliances such as washing machines or dishwashers for another time."

OK so Shell, you have just attempted to penalise me for using my washing machine and dishwasher between 2am  and 3am but now I have changed to a flat rate,  you want me to take part in a national trial to reduce the peaks on the grid by getting me not to run my washing machine at peak times and rather run it sometime else.  Loving it.

Presumably the executives making these decisions do not know what Economy 7 is (soon to be "was") and what it attempted to do and so just viewed it as a tariff not protected by legislation so it could be a line to be exploited.

In the conversation, the call centre operative tried to force a smart meter on me as part of the deal.  Apparently "single tariffs only work with smart meters" was the line her managers had tried to get her to say.  Let's see if they attempt to hold me to ransom over that.

rodmaker

[Deleted User] said:

I struggle to see the relevance of a definition of the word 'smart' in a fifteen year old document from part of another country's government.

TC56_803_9 said:

You are perfectly entitled to struggle with whatever you want and I respect your endeavours. 

lol.