Octopus Energy lost our smart meter data for 17 months – now wants to bill on estimates

Qyburn

Cadwallon said:

... Until then, both the bills and the account graphs appeared normal, which is why this wasn’t apparent earlier. 

That's also surprising. When our meter stopped working this was clearly visible in the Octopus account,and in fact still is since the data couldn't be recovered..

Reed_Richards

MWT said:

matt_drummer said:

I was under the impression that all data goes to the DCC and other third parties have access as required.

But I may be wrong, of course.

I would think that if the DCC do not have the data because something has gone wrong then nobody will.

The DCC does not store or access the data from the meters, it merely processes requests from the suppliers and passes the reply from the meters back to the suppliers.

It is a conduit, not a storage facility.

Similarly to answer an earlier question, half-hour tariffs use the half-hour data not the meter register readings, there is no attempt to reconcile the two as there would always be differences due to summing rounded numbers.

I can get my half-hourly meter data either via Bright/Glowmarkt or via my supplier's app; my supplier being Eon.next.  The two are never in sync, one is always more up-to-date than the other.  That would not happen if the apps were all getting data from a common database so I am convinced @MWT is correct.  

Ildhund

Reed_Richards said:

MWT said:

The DCC ... is a conduit, not a storage facility.

The two are never in sync, one is always more up-to-date than the other  ... so I am convinced @MWT is correct.  

Yep, the DCC is insistent that it doesn't store any consumption data. It does maintain a database of device information, including MAC addresses, so they know where data come from and should be routed to.

Every user (i.e. authorized DCC participant) allowed to access a meter in order to retrieve usage data is almost bound to get a different set of figures. E.On will probably - like other suppliers - poll for data once a day. Bright may poll more frequently, and they can poll on demand, although I don't think I've ever been able to persuade their app to do so. 

prowla

matelodave said:

Although I've had a smart meter since 2017 I've still saved all the PDF's of my monthly bills. Its saved no end of aggro when energy companies went bust and data became unavailable.

They dont take up much space but can be invaluable when it all goes to pot and I'd suggest that you should be extra extra vigilant when you've got a complex tariff to ensure that data is being collected, recorded and billed correctly.

I'd suggest that you really haven't done any of that if its taken 15 month to discover it. Yes Octopus have had a problem but had you been more vigilant you would have discovered and got it corrected almost as soon as it started going wrong.

That's good general advice - I download copies of all my bills for safekeeping.

Reed_Richards

Ildhund said:

.... Bright may poll more frequently, and they can poll on demand, although I don't think I've ever been able to persuade their app to do so. 

I've sometimes got the Bright app to poll on demand but I've given up doing that because the consequence was that it didn't poll at the regular time the following day, which for me is between 01:00 and 01:30.  Then the missing data was not retrieved for a few days, although Bright always caught up eventually.  

Cadwallon

I have explained how we got to where we are. Octopus will have known they lost connection with our type 2 meter shortly after it happened. The issue now is 13 months of Octopus's missing record data are saved inside our meter, and all of Octopus's missing record data are saved in our approved solar system. Octopus is planning to destroy the meter, which is equipped with a port which allows the data to be read directly, without reading the data contained within the meter. They say they will not use the perfectly valid data in our approved solar system, and they will not give me a final position letter, so I cannot ask the ombudsman to help me stop them from destroying the data. Companies like Octopus are legally obliged to use all reasonable means to use meter data rather than estimation. And, I believe this obligation overrides their terms and conditions. I would like them to act in a fair way by using the available clean and accurate data to repair their lost records, then check the bill using the rates I signed up to.

WiserMiser

Cadwallon said:

.

...they will not give me a final position letter, so I cannot ask the ombudsman to help me stop them from destroying the data.

You can go to the Ombudsman eight weeks after submitting your complaint.

QrizB

Cadwallon said:

The issue now is 13 months of Octopus's missing record data are saved inside our meter ...

Playing devil's advocate here, you don't actually know that. It's possible that the meter has 13 months of import data and 3 months of export data stored, but until someone looks, you don't know if the meter has been recording any of it.

As I understand it Octopus Flux requires matching-up of both import and export HH data, so at best an expert would be able to reconstruct 3 months of readings.

Cadwallon said:

..., and all of Octopus's missing record data are saved in our approved solar system.

That's definitely not true. Whatever data you've got saved in your PV system, it's not MID-compliant and is inadmissible for billing purposes.

Qyburn

QrizB said:

Cadwallon said:

..., and all of Octopus's missing record data are saved in our approved solar system.

That's definitely not true. Whatever data you've got saved in your PV system, it's not MID-compliant and is inadmissible for billing purposes.

Our "approved PV system" underestimates both import and export by around 5%, and overestimate production by something similar. Its "approval" relates to compliance with requirements for grid synchronisation and generally not screwing up voltages, phase, frequency etc when connected in parallel with the incoming supply. I don't expect that approval cares about accuracy of their production, import or export metering.

Qyburn

Cadwallon said:

I have explained how we got to where we are. 

Without seeing what was presented in your bills, or your account it's difficult to be sure that you couldn't have seen anything amiss.  Did your Octopus account still show monthly import/export figures?  Did the format of the bill remain unchanged?