In reply to a post by PhilipD:

Power companies don't benefit from smart meters.

Not sending anyone out to read it must save them some money.

Edited by deleted (Fri 13-Sep-19 09:25:56)

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

The public should insist the cost savings these devices make for the Energy suppliers are passed directly back to the punters.

I've compared smart meter specific tariffs with the tariff I'm on and it wasn't as good, they are not even rewarding those who have switched which would then encourage others.

In reply to a post by dect:

In reply to a post by PhilipD:

Power companies don't benefit from smart meters.

Not sending anyone out to read it must safe them some money.

It mustn't be underestimated the number of people who fail to provide meter readings regularly and then get a huge bill X years later once the meter has been read by the energy supplier. You only have to look on MSE forums to see that many people fall into this category. So yes, you could argue energy suppliers will save money if they don't have to chase up debts for those in arrears but from the energy supllier's viewpoint, they could choose to reduce prices across the board if everyone was to get accurate bills based on actual usage.

+1

In reply to a post by dect:

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

The public should insist the cost savings these devices make for the Energy suppliers are passed directly back to the punters.

I've compared smart meter specific tariffs with the tariff I'm on and it wasn't as good, they are not even rewarding those who have switched which would then encourage others.

That will be because in the short term they have to recoup the cost of the meters and their installation. The meters are not free. Just like the NHS isn�t. Meters paid for by higher tariffs, NHS by taxes, exhorbitant prescription charges, dental charges and car park charges.

Will tariffs be reduced for each particular customer once the cost of their specific meter and installation has been recouped? No way!

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 13-Sep-19 10:09:16)

That�s strange, the cheapest energy tariffs I�ve seen on energy comparison sites such as uswitch insist that you have a smart meter installed or get one after switching eg BG�s uswitch exclusive tariff.

I thought that as well, but it could explain the post I was replying to and quoted . The millions or billions being spent on smart meters won�t be coming from the shareholders .

Today�s energy news.

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

That�s strange, the cheapest energy tariffs I�ve seen on energy comparison sites such as uswitch insist that you have a smart meter installed or get one after switching eg BG�s uswitch exclusive tariff.

I'm not sure on the legality of this. Smart meters are legally optional, so if you sign up to a tariff which mandates the installation of a smart meter, it's questionable whether this is enforceable.

Most likely a soft "threat", but it works since most likely most people won't challenge it.

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

That�s strange, the cheapest energy tariffs I�ve seen on energy comparison sites such as uswitch insist that you have a smart meter installed or get one after switching eg BG�s uswitch exclusive tariff.

Fair comment, haven't check for a little while so maybe things are changing.

In reply to a post by dect:

Not sending anyone out to read it must save them some money.

Not in our case they don't, our smart meter has been visited just as many times as when it was a standard meter. I raised this with the meter guy as I thought smart meters did away from having to be read but no, they still visit to confirm nothings been tampered with and it all looks safe and take a confirmed reading, at least that is what he told me.

Besides meters don't tend to get read more than a couple of times a year as most people submit readings online, and until everyone has a smart meter, meter reading staff are still out on the road and visiting the same streets.

Also don't forget the costs of the roll out of smart meters, and there is still on ongoing cost of the infrastructure to collect the data and process it. I bet it's many years before they break even if everyone had a smart meter overnight and they never visited anyone again for a manual reading.

Regards

Phil

Edited by deleted (Fri 13-Sep-19 13:44:22)