Energy Suppliers, Suppliers of Energy. Gas / Electric

https://share.octopus.energy/happy-moose-767

Late to the party..!

Oh! They work more than once then. I realized I'll have to wait until next month as I very much doubt BG will cancel my DD at a weeks notice.

Finally found the octopus referral thing, why do they hide it? Going to get partner to sign up on gas/electric at our new flat which is with Eon by default when we got the keys.
How are people finding the Agile tariff?
We work from home a lot and cook in the evenings but laundry/dishwasher can be done during the day.
In the winter the heating will definitely be on during the daytime

If they're that late on issuing the final bill they should give you an automatic 'standard of service' credit.
https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/customers-entitled-automatic-compensation-switching-problems-1-may

Agile can work if you can shift your electric use at will, people with house batteries will benefit most. Their Tracker tariff may also be interesting to consider as it changes rates day by day rather than every half hour. Just depends on what your use through a day looks like really. I’m on Intelligent with our car charger which works really well - last month our average price per unit was about 11-12p.

The tracker is incredible, not sure if there is still a waiting list.

The current price for me is 15.27p/kw for electricity and 3.54p/kw for gas.

Just used yours, squire. Cheers!

Absolute gent! Thanks very much.

Octopus won't install a smart meter, because I "live in a flat with a meter in a communal area (i.e not in your own flat)".

Does anyone know if this is an industry standard, or do different suppliers take different approaches (a quick Duckle wasn't useful and I don't have the will to try calling)?

There are technical restrictions/limits about where the meters can be placed/replaced in relation to the property. The most common ones are gas and elec meters too far apart on the same property (they need to talk to each other), or meter boxes being more than 5m (ish?) from where the IHD will be. Does make it a bit of a pain for flats where often the elec cupboard is in the flat, but the gas is downstairs and outside in a box with all of them together for the property as it saves in copper pipe work from the mains supply.

Worth asking why they are refusing (if it’s just communal space that does sound odd, but maybe needs management company/building owner permission?), they may be making assumptions based on incorrect knowledge of the property. Suppliers are targeted on installs by OFGEM with fairly hefty financial penalties for missing targets so it’s unlikely they would be refusing to install without good reason.

Thanks.

I should have said, electric only.

IHD?

If elec only then seems even more odd, unless it’s down to needing building owners permission to change the meters?

IHD = in home display, the bit that most people assume is the smart meter that goes inside the property but is really just the display output for the meters that sit in your meter cupboard :)

In-Home Display.

When we tried to get bulb to fit one in our flat they needed access to an external cupboard/room to isolate the electric/consumer unit and said they couldnt trust the freeholder (southwark for us) to turn up to open it in the timeslot they would send the engineer out for.

Yeah, if its in a communal area I'm sure they would need access permission from the building owner, your permission wouldn't be enough.

Octopus just installed a smart electric meter in the hallway of my building, so that’s clearly bollocks. The IHD and smart gas meter were put in 10-ish meters away and work fine.

I am (sort of) the building owner but they never asked.

How are they refusing? I just put myself on the waiting list and eventually they offered an appointment. I wasn’t asked any pertinent questions.

Thanks all.

Octopus' stance is generic, not specific to my particular circumstances and MSE doesn't think being a tenant and the meter being outwith my flat is a issue.

Looks like I'll have to shop around...

https://octopus.energy/help-and-faqs/articles/what-is-a-smart-meter-and-can-i-have-one/
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/smart-meters/

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So they’re not refusing, they just have some blurb that suggests they might.

Book an appointment. Worst case they say no when they turn up.

That seems to suggest the only reason is the IHD might not work reliably?

Mine was fine for six months after Bulb installed smart meters in a communal hallway but then stopped working. However, in my case the connection problem appears to be between the meter and network rather than anything specific to the IHD.

Octupus have tried to reboot things with no luck and have suggested they'll send someone to sort it out if necessary. Need to get in touch with them about that.

Here's yet another Octopus referral link: https://share.octopus.energy/jade-dingo-711

I need to switch supplier from OVO (too many reasons to list, but infuriatingly slow at everything). Is octopus still the go to?

If I could be so bold:

https://share.octopus.energy/azure-tapir-137

@TTM did your switch from OVO happen? I too have suffered their awful customer service for two years now and need to move elsewhere. Can't help think the switch will not be stress free.

Smart meter fitted and - surprise! - it does not work.

Not yet. Will be looking to move after we get back from holiday.