RTS (Radio Teleswitch Service) Shutdown Update

I'm 2 months in on my new smartmeter. Haven't had a bill for it yet, only a part month from my THTC meters. My IHD seems to be working as it should and it's quite interesting to keep an eye on it to see what racks up the biggest use.  My smartmeter has 2 tarrif rates which i have checked a few times to confirm the switch between rates. It gives me individual counts of how much energy has been used on both tarrifs and tells me what this will cost in total.  I can see on my OVO account the auto readings, 2 per day, 1 for each rate. I can't yet see usage as it says my system isn't supported. My bill for last month is just the standing charge, so far. I'm actually quite pleased with how it has gone and not unduly worried about the time to update everything, the money's there for when it happens and all the readings marry up so all good. Of course it helped that the installation engineer walked us through it all very simply as we had the same fears as most folk about the change. This forum also helped immensely.  We are in Dundee, Scotland.

It’s great to hear that everything’s working as expected (well, almost) 🙂

What is the exact wording of that message? I ask because it sounds odd …

With any luck, you’ll be able to access this sub-page of your Profile page: Edit meter reads frequency - OVO Energy You’ll only see half-hour usage data if the top option is selected. It’s supposed to be selected by default, but we’ve seen evidence that this isn’t always the case.

I can’t think of any reason not to select the Settlement half-hourly option, too.

The message is as follows:

Usage

Your meter setup isn't supported

Right now, we can't show a usage graph for your meter setup. We're working on improving this, but in the meantime you can see your energy consumption on your bills.

The edit meter reads frequency is set at 1/2 hrly for both frequency and settlement.

That’s good.

That’s not so good. I’m guessing that this is because you’re coming off a complicated two-meter THTC system, whereas the usage stuff can only cope with one meter at a time. Until the changes to your supply have made their way on to the national database (remove one meter, change the configuration of the other), you’ll have to do without the usage data at the website. Those database updates don’t always happen as quickly as you’d like ...

You may be able to download the half-hourly usage data with the help of a third-party app or utility, if you’re really keen. Here are some suggestions (there’s quite a bit of reading accumulated over the years, but what’s at the end won’t necessarily make sense unless you’ve at least skimmed what goes before):
  
Energy usage data from third party Apps: Ivie, Loop and Hugo - my guide
Can I access downloadable usage data for prior year?
Can we get access to the OVO energy online account API to download our smart meter usage data?  

I have a Landis+Gyr E150 meter in my rented flat which was replaced in August 2021. OVO have sent me multiple letters and messages to say I need to change the meter before the RTS switch off however as far as I can see this meter works on an internal clock and there is no external Teleswitch in circuit. Is this correct? I am on an Economy 10 Tarif. Thank you! An email to OVO with photos of the meter was ignored.

Hi ​@pennard ,

Are you sure you got the L+G E150 part right? IIRC that model has never been used in the UK. Can you post photos of what you’ve got please?

​@Blastoise186 Thanks for the quick reply. Here’s a photo.

I see. I could also do with seeing everything else on the backboard as well.

Can I send you a DM or email?

I’m afraid DM’s here don’t support images and I can’t give you my email address. Did you need to keep something hidden from public view?

I’m not sure, the board has the meters for 3 other flats as well as mine.

Ahh ok, I’ll work with what I’ve already got in that case.

It doesn’t look like you’ve got Economy 10 - that meter is a Single-Rate Meter by the looks of things. Are you sure you’re on E10?

My bill says “Simpler Energy - Economy 10”

On the meter pressing the blue button cycles through 3 different readings - R1, R2 and Total. I submit the R1 and R2 values as my peak and off peak readings.

Thanks!

Thanks, that helps a ton. Seems the source I was using has bad info - apologies. I’ve switched to one of the others I’ve got in my toolkit.

That’s not an RTS Meter - it definitely runs locally only. You can ignore the letters if you wish, but upgrading to a Smart Meter anyway also works - it’s worth considering.

If you’d rather stop them, Live Chat at https://ovoenergy.com/help is faster than Email.

To anyone else reading this, please be advised that opting out of Smart Meter Marketing does not apply to critical communications such as RTS Shutdown matters - OVO is entitled to bypass your opt-out in these cases.

​@Blastoise186 Thank you so much for your help.

Hey ​@pennard 

Glad to see one of our amazing volunteers, Blastoise186 has already stopped by with some really helpful advice here!

As they’ve mentioned, although it may not be an RTS meter, it’s always worth considering upgrading to the smart meter now while you’ve got the letter. All meters do expire and will need replacing at some point due to their certification. You can read more on that below:

I hope Blastoise’s advice was helpful.

Looking at that image the meter certification is over 9 years old, so it may be that which is prompting the replacement before it reaches 10 yo - rather than being anything to do with the RTS switch off:
(Maybe they just gave you the wrong message about why it should be/ needs to be replaced?)

Hi, I've been lurking on this forum for a while now, but this is my first post.  I live in MPAN 17 area (Kyle of Lochalsh, Northern Scotland) and have two supplies with separate meter arrangements. One supply is a 2-meter THTC setup, and the other (supplying an annexe) is a an Economy 10 meter exactly like @pennard showed in the photo above.  This meter has a 2014 certification date.  I have had no communication from OVO regarding either supply.

When I try to book a smart meter exchange for the Eco 10 supply on-line, I get the following message:

"Sorry, we can't install a smart meter yet

We check multiple criteria to make sure we successfully install your new smart meters on the day. Your account does not pass our eligibility check right now. Eligibility can change so please come back to try again soon."

I've been getting that message for many months now. From what I've read on this thread and others, I presume all this could indicate that:

1. I am not in range of the Arquiva network, or
2. I am in a load-managed area, or
3. Both.

I am happy enough to leave the non-smart Eco 10 supply alone for now, but realise that the clock is ticking on the THTC supply.  If I can't get a smart meter for the existing Eco 10 supply, then what hope is there for my THTC supply?  Given the all the tales of failed installations on this forum thread , and the current weather conditions, I am not inclined to press this further with OVO at the moment, even though OVO does seem to be improving recently.

Do any of you OVO-connected people have any advice?  Thanks.

Hey, welcome ​@Jantang !

We’ll need to see the meters in this case as it’ll help us figure this out.

We’ll see what we can advise from there!

​@Blastoise186, this is the THTC setup:

And this is the Eco 10 supply:

Thanks.

Thanks!

Let me tag ​@Bradley_OVO as I think he’ll need to check a few things with internal teams.

I can’t see anything obvious that’d be a blocker...

You have to remember that the many having sucessful installations do not feel any need to come here and tell others about it (some have done anyway, thanks to those).

It can make things look one sided when you only see the reports of errors.

​@Jantang Thanks for the detailed explanation and photos showcasing your current THTC and Eco10 set up. I might need to pop you a private message here for some more info to help look into this further.

​@Lukepeniket_OVO Any ideas in the meantime?

Luke doesn’t have time to reply properly right now, but he thinks it’s the Three-MPAN thing that’s causing this issue.

If you think about it, not many people have a setup like this one...

Hey ​@Jantang 

Have you reached out to our support team about this? I’m surprised that we haven’t written to you. But we do have a process in place for this cohort of customers & should be able to get your meters upgraded. This is current advice:
 

The RTS signal will end for our customers on 30 June 2025. The period between 1 July - 30 September 2025 will then be used to close-down the RTS signal and allow us to manage any unexpected customers impacted.

After a very successful pilot, from the 17th June 2024 we will begin writing to our Economy 10 RTS customers to invite them to call us to arrange for their meter exchange. 

We are continuing to work at pace to enable the same solution for the majority of our other RTS customers and our aim is to begin writing to these customers in Aug 2024.