Smart meters - supply companies have the ability to remotely switch the supply off

harry explained :

Is that new information, or regurgitated old news?

It was always known that the supply companies have the ability to remotely switch the supply off, with a smart meter.

The alternative method in the past, is one of getting a court order and maybe having to break in to isolate a supply. No doubt a court order will still be needed with smart meters.

Reading the comments in the article reminded me of the days you put a shilling in the slot and the gasman would empty the meter and most times got some cash back.

DM 'The new meters automatically send readings to suppliers as often as every half an hour and show customers in pounds and pence exactly how much gas and electricity they use.'

That is just simply wrong. Consumption can be recorded every 30 minutes, but that information is stored by the meter and the supplier updated only once per day at around midnight.

So? What worries me is when these things get hacked. Brian

I'm trying to find out about my smart water meter. When we lost water over a large area yesterday, I did ask if, if there was a major leak on an unattended site with a meter like mine whether they could cut it off remotely. She said some can be operated like that but most need a person on site to do it. Interesting that some are able to cut the waater off one supposes these have to have a power connection, which I don't think mine has. Brian

Tell us something new. Are you planning on not paying your bills?

Quite. Everything they "reveal" was documented from the outset, and is regulated.

And I question whether the former Minister has got rid of his smart meter. His quote suggests to me he got rid of the monitor.

But there's a possible bit of real news in there. An admission from a former Minister that they made a mistake at the outset about the extent to which users would monitor their use.

Nothing new there.

They can fit prepay meters anyway, they just have to visit to change the meter. The householder will get a power cut when they take the meter out and swap it which they won't get if its a smart meter being switched to prepay.

If they can switch the functionality of the meter remotely it'll be

But it says he "rips out his own meter" and "removed his own device".

I'm not aware of *any* research into the actual likely effect on people's bills of having the little gadget. The figures quoted just get less and less.

Even supposed consumer shows like Rip off Britain only look at other issues, like meters going dumb when you change supplier and explosions when they're badly fitted by inadequately trained operatives.

We had exactly that when I was a kid.

But presumably the technology is there to do that if the supplier wants to. Either way, if they know your consumption in half hour periods (even retrospectively), it makes possible differential charging at certain peak periods.

Does anyone know how a smart meter communicates with the supplier? Does it use mobile phone technology? If so, what happens if there's no signal in the vicinity of the meter if, for example, it's in a cellar?

Yes

They refuse to install a smart meter.

I don't think so

unless the leccy company have set you up with a prepayment account with sufficient credit before they switch it over you will be left without power

they DO need a court order to put a customer in that position

tim

More significant was the admission that they made mistake by giving the job to the energy suppliers rather than the network managers. So a tool which was supposed to encourage people to swap suppliers became a tool for keeping you trapped.

Original estimate ?26 pa Latest estimate ?11. Quote from report in DT.

Interesting comment also - basically that the elite in the DECC hadn't got a f****** clue when it came to engineering.

Thought that was probably the case. My holiday flat is part of a converted house where all the meters are in the cellar - so it looks like we couldn't have a smart meter even if we wanted one. Personally I don't want one, but it might have been useful for the Landlord account which covers the communal parts of the building because we're always getting way-out estimated bills.