Electricity Meter Blank

flossymcfly

Hi there,

I tried to submit a meter reading last week after completely forgetting at the end of December. When I went into the meter cupboard I saw that the electricity meter was blank.

A quick google said to raise it with my supplier, which I did last week but I have heard nothing, is this normal? Utility Warehouse is my supplier if that makes any difference.

There are no issues with the supply, no interruptions and everything is working as it should.

The only thing I can think is that the meter has rolled over to 100,000 at some point and has conked out (it was at 99k odds during December). Can this happen? It's not a smart meter, just a traditional meter with the digital numbers you use for readings.

Once they fix it, how will I accurately pay for electricity? I have no idea when it stopped working other than it was some time between 15th December and 20th January :(

Thanks for reading!

EssexHebridean

It's probably coincidental that it's died at the point it has in its readings - meters are designed to be able to run "round the clock".

They won't fix the current one, they'll replace it - presumably it's a fair age if it had recorded to that level anyway so that's probably not a bad thing. If you have literally heard nothing following your complaint, I'd be inclined to give them another call and ask when they will be visiting to replace the meter.

You'll be billed for any period where readings are missing on an estimate - and this is where your habit of talking and supplying readings monthly stands you in excellent stead as the estimates are likely to be pretty close to your actual use.

molerat

Not normal but something that does happen, nothing to do with rolling over. Is it normal for the supplier to not get back to you, unfortunately yes, all suppliers are pretty much lazy and incompetent, some more than others. You need to raise the matter with them again. There is an industry standard process for estimating usage when there is no reading from the meter, the more information you have about your usage the better you can challenge any wild estimations that system may come up with.

victor2

Get your old bills if you don't have them already. Download them from your supplier's online account if you can. These can be used to estimate your usage while the meter is not working and you need to have your own copies. Unless you have electric heating, your electricity usage may not vary so much between winter and summer.

flossymcfly

Thanks all, I will get back on to them.

Got all my old bills and our usage does go up in December with Christmas lights etc, but the estimated bill reflects that anyway so shouldn't be too much out! Just typical it's the one month I forget to do an actual reading that this has happened!

Looks like we will be getting a smart meter, they've been pushing us to get one anyway so might aswell get it over with.

EssexHebridean

Yep - the current technology is smart so that will give you more options for tariffs too - you might be able to save money on a smart tariff, who knows!

Swipe

Get back to them to chase it up and ensure that this is raised as a complaint. Unless you use electricity for heating or hot water then I wouldn't be overly concerned about being over charged by estimated usage while the meter is out of commission.