Anomalously high gas bill - from British Gas

CazeryBird

Gerry1 said:

kWh are in bold because they are used to calculate your bill.  However, your bill won't be accurate because both readings are only estimates.

oh that one was estimates, yes. I just grabbed one I had to hand. I have actuals at the start and end of that year (confirming usage of 14,000kWh for that year). Apparently, in the in-between period, my meter hadn't been sending updates all year and the meter readers hadn't submitted the readings they took. Bit weird, but yeah means lots of estimates bookended by actuals.

I thought that's what the bold meant, but the responses from Ildhund confused me.

(Edited to add final sentence)

Ildhund

Sorry if I confused you. I was only reacting to your statement that "The reads they have are different to the reads the smart meter is providing through Loop, Bright and n3rgy."  Those third-party 'other users' don't have access to meter readings like the supplier does, so you're apparently trying to compare apples with goats.

You can read your own meter (also via the IHD, perhaps), so you can compare with the readings the supplier is recording and using to bill you. They should of course be identical. The readings the supplier retrieves are normally stored in the meter at midnight, but the supplier won't get them until hours - sometimes even a day or more - later.

brianposter

Ildhund said:

Sorry if I confused you. I was only reacting to your statement that "The reads they have are different to the reads the smart meter is providing through Loop, Bright and n3rgy."  Those third-party 'other users' don't have access to meter readings like the supplier does, so you're apparently trying to compare apples with goats.

You can read your own meter (also via the IHD, perhaps), so you can compare with the readings the supplier is recording and using to bill you. They should of course be identical. The readings the supplier retrieves are normally stored in the meter at midnight, but the supplier won't get them until hours - sometimes even a day or more - later.

You are again expressing matters in a very confusing manner. Where is the source of the Loop, Bright etc. information? You (Ildhund) suggest that it is the meter itself ("the smart meter is providing") but in that case the OP is clearly comparing apples with apples because all the information comes directly from the smart meter.

Ildhund

Oh dear. I explained what sort of metering information is stored in the meter here. There is a lot more. This information can be retrieved by bodies that have the authority to do so, but some of them can only access some of the information. Loop, Bright etc. cannot access meter readings.

CazeryBird

Ildhund said:

Oh dear. I explained what sort of metering information is stored in the meter here. There is a lot more. This information can be retrieved by bodies that have the authority to do so, but some of them can only access some of the information. Loop, Bright etc. cannot access meter readings.

How does it relate to my issue though: all this doesn't explain why the kWh usage data retrieved from the smart meter by me and n3rgy is different from that used by BG to calculate my bills. Or why my meter reading jumped up a lot at the start of last year. Can they have a fault like that?

Can the meter reading be adjusted remotely? I've wondered often whether it was adjusted to match the reading of the person they swapped my account to (long story short, my account was erroneously swapped to another company and my address was assigned to a random woman at the other end of the country). But hopefully this isn't possible?!

brianposter

Ildhund, as far as I am aware a meter has only one system for measuring gas flow so both the meter readings and the usage are calculated using the same input and they should never be inconsistent unless there is a software problem with the meter.

They could also appear to be inconsistent if there is a software problem elsewhere

brianposter

CazeryBird said:

Ildhund said:

Oh dear. I explained what sort of metering information is stored in the meter here. There is a lot more. This information can be retrieved by bodies that have the authority to do so, but some of them can only access some of the information. Loop, Bright etc. cannot access meter readings.

How does it relate to my issue though: all this doesn't explain why the kWh usage data retrieved from the smart meter by me and n3rgy is different from that used by BG to calculate my bills. Or why my meter reading jumped up a lot at the start of last year. Can they have a fault like that?

Can the meter reading be adjusted remotely? I've wondered often whether it was adjusted to match the reading of the person they swapped my account to (long story short, my account was erroneously swapped to another company and my address was assigned to a random woman at the other end of the country). But hopefully this isn't possible?!

Just about anything can happen to your meter. It is a small computer.

You just have to keep pushing and your supplier may accept and explain what has happened. If that does not happen you have to go to the ombudsman or court. 

CazeryBird

Thank you, that makes sense.
It's with the Ombudsman now. BG say the meter reading is accurate so the bill is accurate. I've submitted my spreadsheet and the raw data that n3rgy sent me. BG submitted very choice evidence but luckily I sent in everything I had...
We'll see what the case handler says 🤞🏻

brianposter

OP, when you look at the figures for a day when you know what eletricity you have used, which appear to be correct - the meter readings or the Loop/n3rgy figures ?

CazeryBird

brianposter said:

OP, when you look at the figures for a day when you know what eletricity you have used, which appear to be correct - the meter readings or the Loop/n3rgy figures ?

Loop/Bright/n3rgy look right for our usage. For both gas and electricity: I've been keeping an eye on them daily and they match our patterns. I don't have an IHD to monitor, and can't really gauge from the main meters though.