THTC / Separate Radio Teleswitch and Meter- Can I get a smart meter?

Just a reminder - Octopus has previously warned they don’t support THTC at all. Proceed with extreme caution. I also cannot guarantee they’ll be able to upgrade/replace such meters - OVO is the only supplier known to definitely 100% be working on this.

The move to Smart Meter based THTC will indeed make it so one meter does everything, but the Tariff won’t change - you’ll still keep it. The migration basically just gets rid of the meter spaghetti and makes things far simpler.

Hi Colin

I would completely agree that it's vital that those who currently have access to periods of cheap rate electricity (overnight or otherwise) should be able to keep it. However, you don’t need two meters to achieve that anymore. Its is already possible to get cheap nighttime electricity from Octopus at 7.5p/kWh for the purposes of EV charging (and anything else you fancy doing while the car is charging) and British Gas have a tariff specifically designed for Dimplex storage heaters - can’t remember the rate. Neither of these require two meters or an RTS. In both cases the supplier communicates directly with the device (car or storage heater) via the internet. It seems inevitable that there will be more solutions like this on the way from manufacturers of the goods using the electricity. This is why, in my opinion, OVO are making a bit of a meal of the switch by trying to recreate a centralised solution that just isn’t required. 

In any case, what I actually object to is having to wait for OVO to develop a smart THTC replacement when the more simple solution that would suit me is available now. 

Unfortunately however, not everyone can get off of THTC due to factors beyond OVO’s control. That’s why the industry has no choice but to develop a migration path to Smart Meters for THTC.

From what I understand, OVO would kinda prefer to not have to deal with THTC and be able to just get rid of it entirely, but alas, they sadly can’t until other issues up in Scotland are resolved first - not least transmission and distribution network issues.

It would be interesting to know what the transmission and distribution network issues that impact on THTC are. Could you please explain?

It’s a bit tricky as not a lot of that info is public - some stuff is restricted for reasons of National Security IIRC, on the basis of being Critical National Infrastructure stuff and I have zero access to  information related to that sort of thing.

But it ultimately boils down to limited capacity in certain areas of Scotland. Try to shove too much juice down the lines and, well, this can happen.

So, are you saying that OVO wish to retain control over when storage heaters can and cannot charge as a means of managing the load on the system?

Nope, not OVO. The DNO’s - such as SSEN and Scottish Power Energy Networks - and National Grid ESO ultimately dictate this stuff and OVO has practically no control over it.

Wow!

You should also do your own research - it’s highly recommended that you do. Relying solely on one source for everything can result in things… Not working out...

Blastoise - have you heard from any of your OVO contacts as to when ‘the solution’ will be made available?  I got this from an Advisor earlier this year: “... we're working hard towards it and we might be able to offer this service from June this year [2024].”