are smart meters a scam

PennineAcute wrote: »

They are a scam if people want them to be a scam, by passing on false information about them. Now where are the tin foil brigade?

No they are a scam because they are being pushed for false reasons.
The reason is supposedly that you will magically save energy - you need to monitor it and adjust your eneregy use but that isn't clearly stated.

The real reason they are being pushed out is posted above.
So that we can ration electric use based on demand vs gereration capacity AND (here is the reality bit you think is tin foil hat) therefore charge different amounts depending on usage at time of day.
Then when you say "but no one told me" the reply will be that the cost per KWH is displayed on your smart meter, live, 24hrs a day.

Stage 2 will be charging based on what the power is being used for, or timeshifting that demand to cheaper hours.
Charging your electric car will likely incurr some form of "high capacity surcharge" or taxation at a different rate because the meter will know it's going into a road going vehicle.


Yep. Of course all of this is total fabrication and not what will happen. Tin foil hats all around.

Technology is always dual purpose - the one you see and the one they dont want you to see. :eek::rotfl:

leviathan wrote: »

No one will be forced to have one in the same way that no one is forced to have an ID card. But good luck trying to do various tasks where you need to identify yourself with photographic ID, either a passport or driving licence which are defacto forms of ID.
Of course if you can exist without then good luck to you.

Same as not having a smart meter might be an option, it's just that the 30p/KWH rate for non-smart meter use plus 60p/day standing charge for reading services, may make you decide that you can't beat them and will join them.

I'm sure that's the intention, but with luck the huge pushback against smart meters will make TPTB have second thoughts, especially with the interesting political situation. They can't fool all the people all the time...

Perhaps the answer is to install oodles of solar panels and just go off-grid !

Talldave wrote: »

Presumably you're not using mobile phones, tablets, laptops, PCs or smart TVs either?

Not to control the electricity supply to my whole house, and that I can't unplug them if they are faulty, no.

Smart meters aren't, imo, a scam - but the entire programme in this country is being run like one.

£11bn for a programme where the DCC and Project Nexus being way off schedule (with no penalties it seems) and over budget (I'm getting deja vu from the 2012 Olympics and most other government projects).

And a "promotional organisation" that started off being called "Smart GB" and has now morphed into the "Campaign for a Smarter Britain"...

Talldave wrote: »

But a powerwall charge might be similar, so they don't necessarily know it's a car. And if someone wants to disguise a car charge, just charge it slowly off a conventional socket, it'll look like a long shower!

I find it baffling that anyone considers the energy industry capable of such analysis. They struggle with the logistics of switching a customer from one supplier to another.

It would take your more than four nights to charge a Tesla from an E7 13A socket (assuming you don't drive it in the meantime), so good luck with that.

A powerwall won't significantly increase your overall consumption, but an EV will: 10000 miles per year will double it. So it doesn't need clever analysis, simply charging more for higher usage (cf. stamp duty bands) will rip you off quite nicely: up to 2000kWh p.a. offpeak might be 8p/kWh, but units above 2000 might be charged at the day rate or even more.

Similarly, half hourly power readings could charge normal rates for 'normal' usage (say up to say 5kW) but apply surcharges when you charge your Tesla at 50kW. And if there's not sufficient generating capacity then load shedding will kick in, so your long journey the next morning won't be possible. Even worse, your EV smart meter can tell your car to supply energy to your house or the grid, so that's a double whammy. Why do you think government assisted EV charging points now have to have smart meters?

You can rest assured that smart metering won't do you any favours as a consumer.