Tomato Energy (Electric Only Supplier) - Too Good To Be True ?

QrizB

Newbie_John said:

So I wonder if there is some "top level" decision to not bother and just continue business with SMETS2 only?

They don't get to pick and choose, though. Ofgem requires that every supplier offer to supply every potential customer with the SVT (which means flat-rate and E7).

They could decide to only offer flat-rate or E7 to SMETS1 meter accounts (the same as they do for legacy meters) but they can't reject SMETS1 (or legacy) meter accounts out-of-hand.

Ildhund

QrizB said:
Ofgem requires that every supplier offer to supply every potential customer with the SVT (which means flat-rate and E7).

I may have misunderstood, but I rather thought that TE only worked with ToU tariffs based on half-hourly data. That just doesn't work with E7 plans, where billing depends on meter register readings. The potential 30-minute delay in offpeak switching times would make Hh billing wildly inaccurate, usually to the customer's detriment.

If this has been explained before, sorry for the interruption. I'd appreciate a link ...

MWT

Ildhund said:

QrizB said:
Ofgem requires that every supplier offer to supply every potential customer with the SVT (which means flat-rate and E7).

I may have misunderstood, but I rather thought that TE only worked with ToU tariffs based on half-hourly data. 

Their half-hour based tariffs have been the most popular, but they do also have 'Tomato Prime' which does not require a smart meter, but QrizB does raise a good point as the describe that as a single-rate, not E7...

... but there is a 50,000 customer threshold, so I suspect they can slide past that requirement at the moment...

masonic

If they cannot read people's smart meters, and require them to enter monthly manual readings, at the minimum that will create a level of dissatisfaction.

Newbie_John

If they offer expensive Prime tariff for non SMET2 meters than people won't bother meaning they will only have SMET2 joining for great TOU rates.

Half of the country still uses old dumb meters so makes no difference - charge them (and SMET1) estimated amount and problem solved (assuming it's so difficult to get around).

Ildhund

Newbie_John said:

Half of the country still uses old dumb meters ...

If 'dumb' means 'not smart', then that's probably not quite right. As Ofgem wrote in their recent 'state of the nation' report, "According to DESNZ, there were 36 million smart meters installed across households in Great Britain by the end of 2024, meaning that over 66% of all domestic meters are now smart."

Bendo

Newbie_John said:

Also I remember post of their CEO explaining complexity of SMETS1 and large number of types so maybe it's taking a long long time.. 

He also seemed to be of the belief that smart meters don't have index reads just HH data so...

MWT

Newbie_John said:

Also I remember post of their CEO explaining complexity of SMETS1 and large number of types so maybe it's taking a long long time..

A good part of their problem is that they (Senapt) are not using a 3rd party adapter for the DCC link, they have written their own, and that is something that even Octopus decided was too much trouble and too risky in terms of time taken vs cost.

Net result is they will encounter problems that they would not if they were not trying to reinvent their own 'wheel' so to speak.

The ultimate benefit if they can figure it all out is lower cost going forward, but it is going to suck down a lot of development time.

Newbie_John

Good Energy has 2 interesting smart tarriffs:
-8p a night (it doesn't need EV, it says you may need EV to get most of it)
-12p between 5-9am and 13-16:00

But the interesting part is this bit:

Good to know

You'll need a working smart meter that sends half-hourly meter readings - we can connect to most smart meters installed from 2019 onwards. Once signed up we'll review your meter and let you know when we've successfully connected to it, or fix it if there are any problems. This may take up to 2 weeks.

So just like Tomato, they dont say directly we don't accept SMET1 but only support limited meters.

lohr500

Newbie_John said:

Good Energy has 2 interesting smart tarriffs:
-5p a night (it doesn't need EV, it says you may need EV to get most of it)
-12p between 5-9am and 13-16:00

But the interesting part is this bit:

Good to know

You'll need a working smart meter that sends half-hourly meter readings - we can connect to most smart meters installed from 2019 onwards. Once signed up we'll review your meter and let you know when we've successfully connected to it, or fix it if there are any problems. This may take up to 2 weeks.

So just like Tomato, they dont say directly we don't accept SMET1 but only support limited meters.

@Newbie_John :  That's interesting. Which Good Energy tariff are you looking at? I can't find one offering the 5p a night rate. In my area their EV tariff is 8p. Perhaps it is area related.