Who is the meter operator?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Octopus said

"sent a request for on-site commissioning. The meter operator will call you to schedule the appointment. Unfortunately, I don't have a specific timeframe for when they will call you, but they will contact you as soon as they have the first available slot."

in relation to the smart meter not connecting, last they told me was no DCC coverage so I can't see that has changed but never know your luck.

When the meter was installed my supply was with Octopus.

So does anyone know who is the meter operator please?

Ildhund

Who is your electricity supplier? They are responsible for your meter.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Thanks for replying, sorry should have been less confusing with my post! Octopus are the current supplier, seems odd to use the phrase meter operator if it’s Octopus? The lady knew I was their customer as she took down the account number. 

Netexporter

DCC collect the data and transfer it to your supplier but I'm pretty certain they don't make site visits. I'm guessing they mean their meter installation contractor, for your area.

Ildhund

OK, sorry - I should have done my research first. Here's what I found: FAQs - Association of Meter Operators

What is a Meter Operator? 

A Meter Operator (MOP), also sometimes referred to as a Meter Equipment Manager (MEM), is a certified company that is appointed by an energy Supplier to install, maintain and remove metering equipment for domestic and business energy customers.  To be a MOP, a company must be certified and operating in accordance with the governance arrangements, technical standards and safety obligations in place for the energy industry.

Who is my Meter Operator? 

Meter Operators can also be referred to as Meter Equipment Managers. Your current energy Supplier for your property should be able to inform you who your appointed Meter Operator is. Sometimes these are referred to by their Market Participant Identifier (MPID). A register of MPIDs can be found at ELEXON list of Qualified Persons.

MarzipanCrumble

I have a a SM2 that does not 'talk' to Octopus - it did but doesn't now.  Octopus are actually pretty good and do try to sort non-comm SM2 meters.  Just keep emailing the Service desk and keep all emails you sen and they reply to.  Send photos when asked and keep those too.

I am in the middle of a city - so really surprised (and annoyed but not with Octopus) that I have comms problems.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Netexporter said:

DCC collect the data and transfer it to your supplier but I'm pretty certain they don't make site visits. I'm guessing they mean their meter installation contractor, for your area.

Ildhund said:

OK, sorry - I should have done my research first. Here's what I found: FAQs - Association of Meter Operators

What is a Meter Operator? 

A Meter Operator (MOP), also sometimes referred to as a Meter Equipment Manager (MEM), is a certified company that is appointed by an energy Supplier to install, maintain and remove metering equipment for domestic and business energy customers.  To be a MOP, a company must be certified and operating in accordance with the governance arrangements, technical standards and safety obligations in place for the energy industry.

Who is my Meter Operator? 

Meter Operators can also be referred to as Meter Equipment Managers. Your current energy Supplier for your property should be able to inform you who your appointed Meter Operator is. Sometimes these are referred to by their Market Participant Identifier (MPID). A register of MPIDs can be found at ELEXON list of Qualified Persons.

Thanks both, so does that mean Octopus are responsible for resolving any issues with the meter? The old meter Octopus replaced 2 years ago didn't belong to them as it was installed long before they existed.

The guy who came to install it travelled 3 hours so I do wonder how long this "first available slot" will take and if the situation with DCC coverage hasn't changed then I don't see the point (or if it has changed it would be good to know when as I'd be pretty peeved if DCC coverage appeared a year ago for example) so it might require bugging them a bit but if the meter belongs to/is the responsibility of someone else I don't want to bug the wrong company.

Ildhund

Who the meter actually belongs to is probably immaterial. Meters are usually owned by companies, known as Meter Asset Providers or MAPs, that lease them to suppliers. If you switch supplier, the new one takes over the lease from the old one. The meter will often have a marking on it saying Property of .., which will often be an independent MAP. 

Suppliers will often contract out the management of the meters they're responsible for to specialist meter operators or MEMs, while some of them will be managed by in-house engineers. It sounds as if yours is managed by an MEM. When your meter was exchanged two years ago, the engineer doing the job should have left a 'meter exchange label' by the meter itself, giving the date the exchange took place and the serial numbers (MSN) of the old and new meters together with the readings on both. This label should say who the engineer was working for. Of course, it could happen that the supplier's own engineer installed the meter, but it was subsequently included in a batch to be managed by an MEM. 
Octopus support should be able to tell you who the message you got was referring to.

BTW, DCC's records of which properties are likely to be able to connect to their network is volatile as coverage improves. They are also the ones to arrange for 'mesh' connections, which enable one smart meter with no direct connection to the network can piggyback on a neighbour's which can connect. You've an interesting experience in store, whenever that may be.     

mac.d

It doesn't really matter who the engineer who visits to fix/install your meter works for, you just deal with your supplier and it's Octopus as your current supplier who is responsible for the meter.

FWIW it was a guy from SMS who recently fixed my Octopus installed smart meter. Like MarzipanCrumble, I think Octopus are pretty good at trying to sort issues with them. I've had experience with two different properties, both took a while between email exchanges and awaiting engineer availability. My own meter required two engineer visits and a new meter installed, the other house had one visit to fit new comms hub and two subsequent remote 'fixes'. 

To be fair, the other house was with Shell Energy and they also fitted new gas meter and dualband comms hub, albeit it didn't fix the issue!

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Ildhund said:

Who the meter actually belongs to is probably immaterial. Meters are usually owned by companies, known as Meter Asset Providers or MAPs, that lease them to suppliers. If you switch supplier, the new one takes over the lease from the old one. The meter will often have a marking on it saying Property of .., which will often be an independent MAP. 

Suppliers will often contract out the management of the meters they're responsible for to specialist meter operators or MEMs, while some of them will be managed by in-house engineers. It sounds as if yours is managed by an MEM. When your meter was exchanged two years ago, the engineer doing the job should have left a 'meter exchange label' by the meter itself, giving the date the exchange took place and the serial numbers (MSN) of the old and new meters together with the readings on both. This label should say who the engineer was working for. Of course, it could happen that the supplier's own engineer installed the meter, but it was subsequently included in a batch to be managed by an MEM. 
Octopus support should be able to tell you who the message you got was referring to.

BTW, DCC's records of which properties are likely to be able to connect to their network is volatile as coverage improves. They are also the ones to arrange for 'mesh' connections, which enable one smart meter with no direct connection to the network can piggyback on a neighbour's which can connect. You've an interesting experience in store, whenever that may be.     

Thanks for the detailed reply, they mentioned the piggybacking 2 years ago but due to the lay of the land (lump of mountain in the way) and no neighbours with smart meters this side if it I don't think it's possible.

(Again 2 years ago) they said they had to wait 90 days for DCC to confirm whether there was coverage then come back a few days later and said there wasn't any (they'd put in a request for someone nearby a couple of months ago, or so they said) so if they know there is now you'd think they'd tell you that but if they don't know and there isn't it's still no go.

Very frustrating situation, mainly because there isn't much of answer other than wait for coverage.

I'll politely bug Octopus and see what they come up with.

Many thanks again.