Love that “buy yourself another Powerwall and join EDF”. Luckily I’m with EDF so get a brilliant 4.5p overnight but I’ve had a Powerwall on order since last January and still no sign of it arriving. Good luck with getting hold of a Powerwall.
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Uk Blackouts & Octopus Go
- Thread starter PITA
- Start date
I've had exactly this happen. After charging both cars overnight on 'Go' there was then a four hour power cut following a lightning strike in the middle of the day. The off peak readings were complete (I've downloaded the data) but there were no readings during the cut and as a result I was charged as 'Flexible' for the entire day!
I've queried it with Octopus but they have stuck to their interpretation.
but during a power cut you'll be using no energy. When the power comes back on, the first half hourly reading will be almost identical to the last one before the power cut - therefore there is no 'missing' data or complex calculation. Also Octopus wouldn't need to work out if it was peak or not as the controlled cuts (if they happen) would all be inside peak times so they can restore full known data well before the off peak period starts.
Don't see it being an issue.
Don't see it being an issue.
Oh boy I'd be hounding them right up to greg level. Its not even GCSE maths to be able to form a full day reading after a power cut as long as the cut exists solely within either peak or off peak periods. The only complication would be if it straddles a rate change window and in that case they may be ok to assign any small amounts of the first 30 minutes back after a cut as belonging to the higher of the two tariffs.
Feels like a 'can't be arsed doing the maths charge them the max' thing and I'm not sure I could let that lie (assuming my personal calculation would mean a decent cost bump)
This is what I'm trying to get across... it isn't an argument, it's clear in their Terms & Conditions.
This is what I'm concerned about if we have these rolling blackouts.
It could be an absolute mess for Smart Meter owners.
Octopus won't have the resources to start going through everybody's bill... they'll just fall back on their T&C's ... and charge flexi tariff for the whole day...
There is also the very real issue of Smart Meters failing. It's an electronic hardware device being turned on, turned off, turned on, turned off... for days on end. With them all trying to reconnect at the same time... It was never designed for that.
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OK I've emailed EDMI who are my Smart Meter manufacturer and I've emailed Octopus Energy.
See what they say
I’ve just been on to Octopus today on this after not receiving a monthly bill. To be honest I had not clocked this in the T&C’s. The meter missed a block apparently on 27th August unbeknown to myself and they then stated they would work out the bill at the flexi rate. A few minutes on hold hoping I had not been charging my M3 that night and luckily escaped with under £4 for the day.
I’m now up to speed with this but just for the life of me cannot see how the policy would work with the smart meters and as you describe could get very expensive indeed!
Ignoring the data for the whole day might be ‘unfair’ under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (and so non binding). If they have data for 21 of 24 hours I’d say it was reasonable to use that data.
Make a complaint to Octopus and see where you get to. The hassle probably isn’t worth the £4 it might save you mind.
Make a complaint to Octopus and see where you get to. The hassle probably isn’t worth the £4 it might save you mind.
spooksman
Member
They missed a couple of readings on mine, and that triggered the bills stopping (as stated). When I asked they generated the bills, and the days with missing readings were billed at full Flexi rate.
I moaned, and they credited back those days completely (good faith gesture), so I paid nothing for those days in the end.
I still don't know (and they couldn't tell me) why a meter that had worked flawlessly for 2 years suddenly decided to miss some readings on those days...
They don't - even if the meter loses connection - which probably isn't uncommon - it stores the data, potentially for months (I'm not sure what the cutoff is but it's very long) and uploads it all when it gets connected again.
There should be zero gaps barring power cuts (which aren't really gaps because the usage is 0 during that time) or actual hardware failure. I personally wouldn't take it from Octopus that an entire day could go missing like that.. Luckily in my dealings they've always been pretty reasonable and worked things out in my favour once you get to the right person.. the reason I'm still with them despite having to hit them with the ombudsman over missed bills once (they didn't bill me for a year, and their frontline response staff were basically powerless).
There should be zero gaps barring power cuts (which aren't really gaps because the usage is 0 during that time) or actual hardware failure. I personally wouldn't take it from Octopus that an entire day could go missing like that.. Luckily in my dealings they've always been pretty reasonable and worked things out in my favour once you get to the right person.. the reason I'm still with them despite having to hit them with the ombudsman over missed bills once (they didn't bill me for a year, and their frontline response staff were basically powerless).
Modern smart meters do indeed have memory onboard.
That’s not to say it’s not possible for a smart meter to develop a fault that causes it to fail to use it or even corrupt it, but in theory it’s there.
There are two middlemen between your smart meter data and your energy provider anyway. It could be an issue with either of those two companies too.
True.
I'd say it's a case of Octopus not being that bothered.
The connection, if you will, is at fault- not the meter.
I've had one £50 referral last week.
I'm due another this.
I'm not overly upset and I will make sure that my batteries are well used- once they arrive.
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