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Question

Smart meter for 3 phase supply and overnight EV tariff


Can I get a smart meter for my 3 phase home supply and benefit from the overnight EV tariff.

It seems like none of the electrical supply companies can offer me or even explain the benefits of having a smart meter connected to a domestic 3 phase supply.

I have two electric vehicles so this would make sense. At the moment I have a standard Economy 7  meter connected to a 3 phase supply and I am charged on a split tariff where my overnight electricity is nowhere near 7p per kwh.  

Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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Hi ​@Clive Jackson ,

Not good news I’m afraid.

I’ve had a chat with the Charge Anytime team about this and they’ve reviewed the thread. Based on the information you’ve provided and the specific circumstances you’ve described, they don’t think trying to switch to OVO would be a good idea for you right now. If you’re not already a customer, they’re worried you’ll run into too many pitfall traps and have a bad experience and if you are already with OVO, they don’t want to risk breaking your account. They wish to flag up the reasons why which are:

  • Charge Anytime onboarding with ANY Multi-Rate setup (such as E7/9/10) isn’t working very well at the moment - they’re working on fixing this
  • You’re on a Multi-Rate Three-Phase setup for which there’s not many Smart Meter Engineers in the UK who can work on them right now
  • Three-Phase Smart Meter Installs/Upgrades are possible with OVO, but only in limited areas right now - I can’t guarantee you’d be able to get one yet - you could be waiting several months on this snag alone
  • Pretty much Every Smart Meter Engineer is currently focused on RTS → Smart Migrations which have to take priority over basically everything else (except emergencies) leaving very few slots for any other jobs until at least June 2025
  • Trying to make a Three-Phase Multi-Rate setup work with Charge Anytime currently has little to no testing and the team doesn’t feel confident enough about it working for you

They wish to express their apologies for this but hope you understand. Please keep an eye out for future updates. They’d much rather just admit defeat now rather than trying to re-invent the wheel only to throw you under it.

Likewise, I don’t want to tempt you into switching to OVO only to throw mud in your face later so I hope you can understand why I can’t deliver the news you wanted to hear. You can still switch to OVO and ask to be notified when this might be possible if you want to, but otherwise you may be better off staying where you are at this time.

Sorry about that


Appreciate the honesty of your reply. 

Couple of things that seem common across all electricity suppliers.

(i) there’s not many Smart Meter Engineers. This is not heavy engineering or computer science. Getting existing engineers trained and certified is a time and cost equation that does not come close to getting a pilot to get certified between a 4 engine and 2 engine jet. But, it’s a lame excuse.

(ii) If there is a will then it can be made to happen, it must be a there is no economic case.

(iii) with more new build eco houses coming thru the design phase then 3 phase at home will be a prerequisite so someone needs to get ahead of this.

 

All of this leave me to wonder how on earth can I get on the EV tariff when I am on a 3 phase Economy 7 account - as I am being charged 14p per kwh for overnight electricity.   


Blastoise186
Plan Zero Hero
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There’s quite a lot of Smart Meter Engineers across the UK - we’re talking several thousand - but not all of them have the same qualifications or experience as others. On top of the basic qualifications to just do meter swaps and basic maintenance, there’s enhancements that they can acquire to do more stuff like more advanced maintenance, multi-rate, Three-Phase and more. It’s no longer a case of One-Size Fits All or you just get qualified to fit meters and you can do anything under the sun like it used to be…

It’s just unfortunate and unlucky that right now, something like 99% of them are being allocated to deal with a one-time meter upgrade/migration project that just so happens to still have a few hundred thousand meters left on it with an absolute deadline of September 2025. It’s not usually like that but alas it was going to have to be done eventually.

FWIW even getting a CSCS Card isn’t that easy either. There’s a stupidly complex range of them and the one you need isn’t as simple as “Oh, you’re an Engineer so you need that card” - it’s REALLY complicated! I tried to figure out that online system a while ago - purely out of curiosity - and I couldn’t figure it out. And I’m an IT Professional with a Level 5 HND in IT!!!

Alas, not everyone wants to get trained to fit meters (but I do know a certain someone who absolutely loves doing so). It just doesn’t have the same buzz as being a fighter pilot does for example! :)

Different people like doing different things. While I love tech and have an absolute blast making PC’s go kaboom with magic tricks, other people might prefer making fireworks go kaboom at theme parks. It’s all in the eye of the beholder...

As for your specific situation, the Charge Anytime team is actively working on it, but they don’t want to release beta quality products that don’t have beta tags attached - and they don’t want to release alpha quality stuff at all either. It just needs more time to cook in the oven and I suspect they’ll get it to work when it’s ready.


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