We’ve complained before about not-so-smart meters.
Now Carol Rhodes says incompatibility between the smart meters of different companies effectively limits her choice of energy supplier.
In August Carol received a letter from Genesis Energy announcing her old electricity meter was to be upgraded with a new “Advanced Meter”. “You’ll say goodbye to estimated readings, estimated bills and visits from meter readers,” it promised.
“But what happens if I change providers?” Carol asked.
Genesis Energy told her there were a couple of retailers who are installing the same meters as Genesis. If the new retailer was unable to remotely read the Genesis meter, it would install its own smart meter.
Carol wasn’t impressed at this incompatibility – and neither were those members who responded to our latest survey on energy suppliers. “The ‘smart’ meter was installed by Meridian. I changed to Mercury who were unable to use this meter electronically. What a waste of resources!” said one.
Companies often didn’t upgrade the smart meter with one of their own as Genesis claimed. Under their new supplier, some consumers had to return to estimated invoices and visits from a meter reader.
A December 2009 report by the Electricity Commission recommended that all companies’ smart-meter systems should be able to communicate with those of other companies. Companies will shortly be consulted on draft communications protocols developed by a working group in association with the Commission. Finalised versions will then be recommended for industry implementation.
Our view
It must be mandatory that each company’s smart-metering system can be read by other power suppliers. Meter incompatibility is a barrier to switching when consumers are dissatisfied with their current suppliers’ service or prices.
More from consumer.org.nz
- Energy providers - results of our 2010 electricity and gas company satisfaction survey
- Editorial: Smart meters not so smart - our July 2009 concerns about the rollout of smart meters
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I had an advanced meter put in June and received a letter to say how wonderful it will be because there will be no estimates. Since then I have received four estimated readings and this month received the first actual reading $582. Apparently it took all that time for the paper work to come through to them before they could action an actual meter reading. I dont know why it took four months to process paper work. The customer service person offered to extend the pay by date by two weeks but I would lose the Prompt Payment discount. Needless to say I am not impressed.
My experience was like Carols. Genesis installed its meter and when the first smart reading was due i received a call from Genesis to say I might notice a small increase in the bill for this period as it adjusted for prior errors. At $2500 for 1-2 month I thought the bill a little large and asked the caller was that not obvious given the account was for domestic supply. Genesis went away to reconsider the bill. I eventually got an amended invoice for about $500 but no explanation for the error and was left with the feeling the I could not trust Genesis. I took my business elsewhere. Changing to Contact was also a nightmare. It took 2-3 months to be done and the first bill sent out to me. It was large by that stage and also dubious. I got a reduction for the poor service. It makes you wonder if these companies are on Planet Earth.
If someone in IT were designing a smart meter it would be able to have the contol room remotely talk to the box if there were any issues. Would also have a data port to allow a technician to diagnose on site. Instead the only way to diagnose is to cut wires and take lots of time working things out, and usually the customer needs to get their own electrician to come in and reconnect the cut wires,