Smart Meters
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PennineAcute wrote: »My now dumb Scottish Power meter is so easy to read and not the Liberty rubbish.
No buttons need to be pressed (besides the gas light button) on either gas or electricity.
IHD shows meter reading, kWh for electricity and m^3 for gas.
Just a shame it is now dumb.
I think it is likely that different customers will have different preferences, some will want a highly technical one, while others just want the readings.
Maybe we can create a top 3 for each type of user
A good place to start might be the demos on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=smart+meter+demo0 -
Its a good excuse to get people on the phone also if these appointments are missed is there any penalty fee? It is not good customer practice and it underlines energy suppliers own self interests.
It is not surprising OFGEMs standing on this,decisions by these bodies tend to side with companies only giving consumers some small room for manoeuvre.The benefits of these non interoperable meters is overstated and adverts for these devices don't carry any information about possible switching issues,how another supplier will carry out repairs to another companies leased meter or how long before these meters are presumably tunneled onto the DCC network at some later point.
In France where there was a big campaign against their Linky dumb meter they found the new meter was interferring with consumer equipment, even turning on touch sensitive lights
There is no penalty fee but some people have reported that they turned up to do work without authority despite the promises that they need permission from customer.
I agree with you it does undermine the energy company and causes them great reputational damage, you can't be or appearing to be forcing people or disrespecting their rights. One of the reasons people hate Crapita is because of they way they harass people turning up on their doorstep.
The companies will not attempt to repair anything, as with current meters they will swap them out if faulty. The prices of these devices is artificially high because of the forced nature of the project.
Years ago before smart meters were thought of I was querying faulty equipment cost and sawt hem on on Alibaba for under $10, probably much cheaper for Energy companies.0 -
Ha Ha
That is exactly what I predicted above.
However, my understanding is that once you have a smart meter installed you are stuck with it, if it is SMET1 it is not going to work with other energy companies kit until at least end of 2019. As I said earlier this will not be a priority for them.
I am not recommending it, but if you did change to the best supplier for IHD and then applied a high voltage short to it (using kit freely available on ebay) you could then complain about it being unsafe! The new company would have a duty to replace it.
Actually, I had seen your comments through this thread and you were one of the folk I was hoping would respond! It struck me that suppliers on different systems (e.g. EDF vs Octopus) seem very keen on pulling out the first company's Smart meter and putting in their own one. That's why I'd like to ditch my current supplier and their rotten Secure Liberty technology and go to back to another that utilises quality gear, even if it is still SMETS1. Strikes me that the simpler the unit, the easier it will be to upgrade it to hook up to whatever harebrained scheme the Government thinks up post-Brexit. The Scottish Power one sounds OK - I will research so I have a decent list of suppliers to interrogate just as soon as the current switch has gone through.0 -
Which energy company are you with that has no Standing Charge?
I'm still with Ebico, but there was a very confusing hand-over period when the relationship between the two companies ended (I believe it may well have been documented somewhere on MSE!).
I had to take specific steps to go to Ebico who now have a tie in with Robin Hood Energy. They've recently increased their prices but it's still worth my while to be on a zero standing charge, although any change to my usage patterns (e.g. the EV I mentioned or the GF moving in) would need another review.0 -
silverwhistle wrote: »I'm still with Ebico, but there was a very confusing hand-over period when the relationship between the two companies ended (I believe it may well have been documented somewhere on MSE!).
I had to take specific steps to go to Ebico who now have a tie in with Robin Hood Energy. They've recently increased their prices but it's still worth my while to be on a zero standing charge, although any change to my usage patterns (e.g. the EV I mentioned or the GF moving in) would need another review.
If the GF moves in move the bill to her name!!0 -
Thanks Malc. My worry here is that Ofgem states that suppliers have to 'take all reasonable steps' to get consumers to accept a smart meter by 2020. Sadly, 'reasonable steps' has not been defined and saying 'No - I do not want a smart meter' to a supplier doesn't actually mean 'No' as Ofgem has made clear to all suppliers in a recent policy letter:
Quote: We expect suppliers to consider their approach to customer refusals and how they will address these. Suppliers should think about how they will handle both implicit refusals (for example, customers who do not respond to contact attempts) and explicit refusals (for example, customers who actively do not want a meter exchange). Such customers should be re-entered into the engagement strategy, with that strategy evolving to reflect lessons learned on consumer engagement. Unquote
I read this paragraph as meaning that any customer who has declined to accept a smart meter as a result of Initiative 'A' is immediately re-entered into the smart meter engagement programme when a supplier comes up with Initiative B - the chatty (incentivised) meter reader; or Initiative C -............
So in truth, consumers do not actually have the right to say "no" in the knowledge that by saying 'no' that is the end of it unless the consumer contacts the supplier. We will have to keep saying 'no' to every marketing scheme that a supplier's smart metering team comes up with.
I understand where you're coming from Hengus. Our customers can no longer permanently opt out of smart metering communications as we’re obligated to keep checking with them. This is particularly the case with significant developments like the roll out of SMETS2 meters. As these meters are considerably different from SMETS1, we need to make customers aware of the change.
As smart meters are optional, customers can reject these offers at any time. As I mentioned above, we won't fit them without the customer's permission and they need to be at home before we can start the installation as the power needs to be turned off for a short time.
Malc“Official Company Representative
I am an official company representative of E.ON. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to queries about the company, so that I can help solve issues. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. I am not allowed to tout for business at all. If you believe I am please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com This does NOT imply any form of approval of my company or its products by MSE"0 -
Capita to raise £700m as losses deepen
Capita has reported a £513.1m annual loss as the outsourcing firm set out plans to revive its indebted business.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43862732
Smart DCC Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Capita plc and is regulated by Ofgem.
https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/about-dcc/
More concerning news with a potential effect on the smart meter programme.0 -
Capita to raise £700m as losses deepen
Capita has reported a £513.1m annual loss as the outsourcing firm set out plans to revive its indebted business.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43862732
Smart DCC Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Capita plc and is regulated by Ofgem.
https://www.smartdcc.co.uk/about-dcc/
More concerning news with a potential effect on the smart meter programme.
Yes but there is one benefit if Crapita go bust, the TVL will be up in the air!
I heard on radio this morning about them wanting this money, it seems like a big ask to mem share price has already collapsed and now they want them to fund a so called restructure.
Crapita screw up so many projects it is hard to keep track and that was before staff started to be let go and many of remaining decided to abandon ship.
I think Crapita is a "dead man walking" they just do not know it.
SELL SELL SELL - cut your losses!1 -
Gas Safe is also ran by capita, or a division of it.1
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No ! buy, buy buy ! todays price is 1. 80 p , the only way is up for Capita.Yes but there is one benefit if Crapita go bust, the TVL will be up in the air!
I heard on radio this morning about them wanting this money, it seems like a big ask to mem share price has already collapsed and now they want them to fund a so called restructure.
Crapita screw up so many projects it is hard to keep track and that was before staff started to be let go and many of remaining decided to abandon ship.
I think Crapita is a "dead man walking" they just do not know it.
SELL SELL SELL - cut your losses!
I can t understand why you keep mis- spelling Capita as Crapita .what have you got against the company ?
That is a typical TV Licence Resistance spelling of this excellent company who last year caught and dragged to court almost 200,000 TV licence thieves. They also run a tagging contract as well so they have their detractors.
So they do a great job as I think most honest people would agree
If they do come out of the TV licence contact someone else will take over to carry on the good work.
The BBC are reported as probably ending the current method of collecting the TV licence fee in 2025.
I hope it go s subscription only. The BBC make the best programs . The £150 a year is worth it for the World Snooker and Wimbledon tennis alone0
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