Millions set to miss out on cash handouts for cutting energy usage due to huge catch
HOUSEHOLDS may get cash for cutting back energy use this winter – but millions will miss out because you need to have a smart meter.
Half of homes do not have one and thousands who do find them unfit for purpose.
As part of plans to prevent blackouts this winter, homes are being offered money to not use energy-guzzling appliances during peak times.
But, as we report, house-holds can join in only if they have a working smart meter.
The gadgets have also been plagued by problems, experts warning that homes who need help most will miss out.
Consumer champion Martyn James says: “It’s deeply unfair that people who can’t get smart meters, despite trying, will lose out on these savings during the most challenging period for energy bills.”
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HOW DOES IT WORK?
THE new initiative, called the Demand Flexibility Scheme, will start from November.
But you need a working smart meter and your energy firm to be signed up to the scheme — and the only firm so far to have publicly declared it will take part is Octopus Energy.
Details are being thrashed out but households are expected to get £10 a day, for a maximum of 12 days, if they follow the rules. In total, it means you could get £120.
To qualify, energy usage would need to be reduced in peak times such as 9am to 11am and 4.30pm to 6.30pm.
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Customers would typically be notified via text message when supplies are low.
PLAIN DUMB
ONLY half of households have smart meters and thousands have “gone dumb” and don’t work. This can happen if, for example, bill payers switch suppliers.
This particularly affects households that have so-called “first-generation” smart meters — those installed between 2016 and 2019.
If a smart meter goes dumb, it will stop displaying data and sending it to suppliers.
This means the smart meter is no better than an old-fashioned one and energy companies will not have data to see if customers have slashed their usage.
If this is you, get in touch with your supplier as soon as you are able, and in the meantime, take your own meter readings.
BIG ERRORS
HOUSEHOLDS have told us about errors on smart meters, with some wrongly left thousands of pounds in debt.
Homes in rural areas could have connectivity issues as well, which can then lead to inaccurate billing.
Most smart meters do lead to accurate bills, but when things go wrong it is harder to prove the error.
You can complain to your supplier or take the issue to the Energy Ombudsman.
LONG DELAYS
ENERGY firms were given a deadline of 2022 to install smart meters in every UK home but the scheme was riddled with delays.
Suppliers now have until the end of 2025 but that date is expected to be extended again due to a number of setbacks including the Covid pandemic.
Delays mean the waiting list for households who are desperate for a smart meter is creeping up.
Some of these have waited for months, if not years, to get one.
Not only could homes miss out on getting paid to lower their energy usage, they could be paying bigger bills.
Regulator Ofgem says some smart tariffs could be cheaper — so not having a smart meter could mean customers miss out on better deals.
'Mine's broken for 3 months'
PREGNANT mum-of-one Nicola Kopsch desperately wants to sign up to the energy discount scheme – but her smart meter has been broken since July.
The 30-year-old lives in Basildon, Essex, with her husband, lab analyst Perry Ogborn, 35, and two-year-old son Logan, and works from home running a flower-arranging business.
She says: “We’re sitting in the dark at night because we don’t want the lights on. That discount would be handy.
“I’m already careful with my usage – we only use the dish-washer when it’s full, and we don’t use the tumble dryer.”
British Gas emailed her to say her meter wasn’t working in July, and it is still not fixed. It means she is unable to monitor her energy use as costs rise.
British Gas has apologised and promised to get it fixed.
‘Been waiting 2 years for one’
GRAN Jane Davies has been waiting two years for a smart meter – and is angry that she’ll miss the winter bill discount.
Her supplier, Bulb, is not taking part in the scheme and it is unlikely she can switch firms and get a smart meter installed in time.
The 56-year-old council worker from Hertford has a pre-payment meter and says: “It’s frustrating. When I work from home, it’s so expensive.
“I top up my meter with £20 a week for electric and £10 for gas but the discount would give me weeks of heating.”
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Jane first requested a smart meter in 2019 but her area has a poor network signal and Bulb says it sometimes cannot install meters in such areas.
A spokesman said: “We’re sorry for any inconvenience.”