Do you have to be on the electricity grid customer?

Swipe

I can't believe people were actually willing to donate to her cause.

EssexHebridean

There was a lot of that sort of nonsense around a few years ago - and sadly a good number of the usual vulnerable types who get sucked into following conspiracy theorists got pulled along with it and ended up in trouble as a result. I seem to recall we had several posters on here peddling their agendas on this sort of subject. I also seem to recall we told them where to go! 

Swipe said:

I can't believe people were actually willing to donate to her cause.

This is what bothers me too - I bet a good proportion of those folk who donated couldn't really afford to either. It's fraud - pure and simple. The donations platforms really shouldn't support such behaviour.

born_again

Love the closing statement

Thank you so much in advance for any contribution, however small.

My family and I are eternally grateful for the outpouring of love and support we have been shown during this difficult time .

Who started it???

Good to see This fundraiser is no longer accepting donations. 

singhini

mac.d said:

That's an interesting reason for not paying your energy bills! 

"I stopped all payment until they could prove to me that they provide energy….they could not.

Energy companies do not provide energy they are brokers licensed by the government.

This culminated in my being a victim of state sponsored crime, my gas and electric were disconnected from the grid without prior warning."

So does that mean they eventually did prove to her that they do Indeed provide energy? 😂

🤣 🤣 🤣 Oh dear 🤣 🤣 🤣

Note to myself ------> its not funny so stop laughing (🤣 🤣 🤣) 

nappy501

An update, I wrote to Ofgem:-

Thank you for contacting Ofgem.

 

Please be aware that any information shared in this email is guidance only. It is not intended to be fully comprehensive or provide legal advice on how any legislation should be interpreted or itself to have legal effect. At all times, the onus is on the consumer to seek their own legal advice when needed.

 

Deemed Contracts

A deemed contract exists where a consumer begins using an energy supply without an agreed contract being in place. This is normally in place when a consumer moves into new premises and starts to consume gas or electricity without agreeing a contract with a supplier. 

 

The purpose and necessity of a deemed contract, in these circumstances, is to ensure continuity of supply when a change of occupancy or ownership of a premises occurs.

 

These deemed contracts assume a default set of terms and conditions are in place between the supplier and consumer. This includes a set of prices which will be charged while the deemed contract applies, until the consumer agrees a contract with a supplier.

 

If you start taking supply on a deemed contract, your supplier must:

 

• take all reasonable steps to provide you with the Principal Terms of the deemed contract including the charges or fees
• provide you with a copy of the full contract if you ask for it
• take all reasonable steps to tell you about other available contracts and how you can get information on these
• take all reasonable steps to ensure that the terms of its deemed contract are not unduly onerous.

 

Removing a Meter and Disconnecting the Mains supply

The use of electricity and gas meters is covered by Schedule 7 of the Electricity Act, and Schedule 2B of the Gas Act, respectively. Ownership arrangements for specific metering assets are covered by commercial contracts between suppliers and their meter asset providers.

 

You will typically deal with two companies.

• Your energy supplier, which is the company that bills you for the energy you use.
• Your network operator, which is the company that maintains the mains supply infrastructure in your area.

 

Removing your meter

• You will no longer pay standing charges
• You will no longer pay for the relevant energy usage
• Your meter will be removed
• The pipe/ cabling carrying gas or electricity to your property might remain

 

You can contact your energy supplier (the company which bills you for your electricity and gas) to request removal of the meter. Some energy suppliers may charge for this service, but many offer the service free of charge.

 

Your energy supplier will arrange for the mains supply to be disconnected at either the mains control valve (gas) or mains fuse (electricity). These are normally located near the relevant metering equipment. The mains supply will still be live, but you will no longer pay standing charges for the energy supply that was disconnected.

 

Should you wish for the mains supply to be removed from the property, you may then need to contact your network operator directly, if this has not already been arranged by your supplier.

 

Under the Distribution Connection and Use of System Agreement, the Network Operator may recover any costs associated with the removal of the mains supply to the property.

 

You can request a breakdown of how they have calculated the costs and discuss which work may be contestable to help reduce the cost.

 

I hope this information has been helpful.

I'm not sure I understand all this letter, I think I will have to go and look up some of the terms used when I have time. I might be grasping at straws, but it appears that disconnection is different to removal of the mains supply?

I am also of a mind that if I actually wanted  to go further with this, I should talk to my energy supplier about their charges for terminating the service and restarting the service.

I still think it might be worth it in the future if I can cover my electricity needs via solar to disconnect from the grid and reconnect when I move house as long as the costs aren't in the thousands.

molerat

You could well find that the supply to the property is not up to current standards and would need upgrading at your cost for reconnection.   They may also need an up to date electrical inspection before they reconnect. Is it really worth it for 60p per day ?

QrizB

nappy501 said:

I still think it might be worth it in the future if I can cover my electricity needs via solar to disconnect from the grid and reconnect when I move house as long as the costs aren't in the thousands.

Here's a quote someone had from SSEN for a new connection. Ok it's three phase but that's a relatively small extra.

Almost £7k.

https://www.scribd.com/document/795610775/New-Meter-install-quote-from-SSEN

Speaking as someone who's had solar PV for almost 14 years now, I'd suggest that giving up a mains connection will cost you more than keeping it will.

We briefly had a forum member who, much like you, was trying to use solar panels and portable power banks to run off-grid despite having a perfectly good grid connection available. As I recall they'd spent about £7k on a system that was far less capable than an equivalent-cost grid-tied system would have been, which didn't fund itself via export payments during the summer, and were still dependent on the grid for 3-4 months of the year.

Edit to add:

Here's a recent post with a quote of just under £8k for a system that could make the average house zero-import for 8-9 months of the year and also earn £4-500 a year in export payments:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81717683/#Comment_81717683

Ectophile

A simple disconnection is likely to involve removing the supply fuse and sealing it up.  Maybe also removing the meter tails and the meter.  The meter belongs to your supplier.  The fuse belongs to your DNO (District Network Operator).

But the DNO can also take it further and remove the supply permanently.  For wiring that's underground, this would involve digging up the point where your house supply meets the main in the street, and then cutting the cable.  Once that's done, reinstating the supply will cost thousands.