Smart meters

Isn't there an MP who has a finger in the pie with the company that makes them?

or did i dream that

 

I may invest

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&r...r-bond-fund/&usg=AOvVaw2AQgK7FK95b8SAA6jDCUiu

 

Canadian Lori - yours was a very interesting post, illustrating all my worst fears.

Apart from the fact that smart meters don't work under some circumstances, my main concern is that if they charge different rates at different times of the day, how can anyone compare the prices of one company with another?

Do you have different utility suppliers in Canada, and how do Canadians compare prices?

I know my unit prices and can calculate my annual cost on a spreadsheet, and also use this to compare different companies. But 66% (as Googled) of people are on the standard variable rate of their supplier, which is almost always the most expensive rate. The rates, with a unit price and a daily price along with gas conversion figures, are difficult to understand. And the utility companies rely on the complexity to put most people off comparing prices. So most people end up paying more for their energy than they need. Smart meters seem to add an extra twist to this.

 

We have no choices. There is one utility. We were forced to have the meters.
On peak .132 per kwh
Mid peak .095
Off peak .065

Then they charge delivery which increases the bill by about another 80%.

During the summer mid peak rates are charged in the morning, on peak the p.m.making use of air conditioning unaffordable. Then they switch them in the winter so that when the central heat fans are running the longest , they get you for a higher rate.

I have shifted my power use to 17% on peak, 17% mid peak, 66% off peak. I have tbe flexibilty to do this and I pity the working families who can't.

 

I think the one utility is key. They can do what they like. I think someone else said that in Scandanavia they tried to charge varying rates during the day but were forced to drop it.

However i am sure that varying rates will come to all of us in time. The suggestion is that when people return from work they will recharge their electric cars and the rate will rise.

 

Well, actually, a car can recharge overnight so not a good example of the rip off however having 7 to 9 a.m and 4 to 7 p.m. as on peak all the time shows that you can't feed your family anything freshly cooked without a big cost.

You watch, they'll drift into time of use because it's a guaranteed way to extract more money and, of course the government gets their increased taxes.

@PeterS what are your rates? I'd like to know just how badly we're paying for green energy... no coal...

 

Hi Lori
There are 30 or more utility companies in the UK, who offer many different rates, with no apparent logic behind them except to confuse. For instance one company will typically offer several fixed rates for the same 12 month period with some rates being much more expensive than others. The cheapest rate is usually one of the 12 month fixed rates. But when that expires, unless you tell them otherwise, they will put you on their Standard Variable Rate which is typically their most expensive. A recent Google showed that 66% of people are on these variable rates. I have just agreed a fixed rate for the next 12 months with Economy Energy, who are a new small company: the biggest supplier will be British Gas. All companies offer both gas and electricity.

The prices are:-Economy Energy-----British Gas
-----------------online saver 2018--standard variable rate
Elec p/kwh----------12.84-------------14.54
Elec p/day----------14.00--------------26.01
Gas p/kwh-----------2.64---------------3.73
Gas p/day----------14.00--------------26.01

The prices are in UK pence, of course. The prices are for quarterly direct debit and online billing. You pay more if you want paper bills or want to pay per bill. For my usage British Gas would cost me 34% more. How do those compare percentagewise with your overall cost?

Edit: sorry about the dashes but when posted all spaces are removed

 

Smart meters are only "smart" for the supplier, not the customer.
They can drone on all they like about how convenient they are for us, but personally I think everyone should resist being fitted with these meters until it is made law.

No company would go spending money replacing meters, that still work ok, if was beneficial to the customer.

 

Not sure about standing charges, I tend to think that the basic network has to be maintained/repaired from time to time, ok you could argue, not often enough but usually a different company runs the supply network to the "energy suppliers".

How easy it is to forget what nationalised industries were actually like.
Nobody ever bothered much, because you got payed at the end of the week regardless of whether you did anything or not, they were overstaffed and running at a loss, but the taxpayer bailed them out all the time.
Job for life, and pension and all that.

I'm not saying the privatised industries are any better, regarding the consumer, but we the taxpayer dont have them hanging around our necks like they were, just taking the pee all the time.

 

So, £51.10 per annum ...

Time for a bit of maintenance then, perhaps?

£51.10p ...
... less than 7 hours work (at minimum wage) and without materials ...


... not even enough to put up an A-frame with "Men At Work" written in crayon

Doesn't "buy" a lot, does it?

 

Do you not account for depreciation?

Again, there will be accounting for depreciation of assets - if there isn't, someone in the finance department doesn't know their XYX from their 123!!!

I may be completely wrong, but, my understanding of the "standing" charge is to contribute to the maintenance and upgrading of any/all equipment which supplies you with the end product. *Someone* has to pay for the maintenance along the supply chain and, again my understanding, that levy falls to the consumer.