YP Letters: Smart meters are no use when switching energy supplier

From: E K Barker, Collingham.
Why can't smart meters be transferred when consumers switch suppliers?Why can't smart meters be transferred when consumers switch suppliers?
Why can't smart meters be transferred when consumers switch suppliers?

IN his letter ‘Smart meters mean savings’ (The Yorkshire Post, July 31), Robert Cheesewright, director of policy and communications at Smart Energy GB, writes that “having smart meters installed in every home in Great Britain will transform the experience of buying and using energy for consumers whilst modernising our outdated energy system”.

Absolute rubbish! A few years ago when our gas and electricity was supplied by British Gas, they persuaded us to let them fit smart meters for both supplies, telling us we would never have to send meter readings again.

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Since then I have switched suppliers several times to Npower, First Utility, Green Network Energy and others in order to get the best deal (as you are advised to do). Each time I have told the new supplier that I have smart meters and each time I have been told that they are unable to use them as they are incompatible with their system.

Don’t bother having them fitted unless you are prepared to be tied in to the same supplier for the rest of your life – they may (possibly) save you money if you stick with the same supplier, but you would probably save the same amount by switching.

Having them fitted was a total waste of time and money. Don’t take my word – money saving expert Martin Lewis’s report (The Yorkshire Post, July 23) confirms this.

From: JA King, Thurgoland, Sheffield.

I READ with interest Robert Cheesewright‘s letter. I have a smart meter and it has saved me absolutely nothing and neither do I expect it to.

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The meter itself will save you absolutely nothing, it can only be done by you gawping at the meter continually and switching off appliances you don’t need to have on – common sense really.

I do confess that it was convenient to have your meter read by the power company automatically on a monthly basis, but the problems started when I changed energy companies as the new supplier was not geared up to recognise my existing smart meter. The TV advertising I consider to be very misleading to the point of false information.

I stress ‘I’, because they are a convenient way of keeping you bound to a particular power company and guess who’s paying for them in the long run? You are.

From: Thomas Reed, Harrogate.

SMART meters are a misnomer because you can’t switch them when you change supplier in search of the best energy deal.