How do I get an unused 1980's off-peak meter removed?

You didn’t show us the meters! That Horstmann device is an electromechanical time switch that turns the offpeak circuits on and off according to its time settings, and also changes which meter register is clocking usage. You say there are two meters in the closed box; this presumably means that the original meter was single-rate only, so another one had to be installed specifically to measure offpeak usage. 

If this is the situation, then there’s no obvious reason why the whole lot can’t be replaced by a modern smart meter. It may be that like another customer with a similar arrangement, OVO wrongly thinks you have an RTS system. You should be able to persuade them that you don’t. 

Thank you for the reply, I didn’t include a picture of the meters as they are externally visible (just abvout) through 2 glass blocks.

I believe the supply was an off peak arrangement from new as my parents bought it off plan and the only heating was electric wire heating in the slab which was too expensive to run so the heating/hot water was changed to gas central heating in the 1980s and the fuses from the off peak side were removed.

Despite emails and calls stating that the system isn’t RTS the people I get through to stick to the script and assume it is RTS which I know is a problem.

The problem is getting through to someone who can understand!

Hmm… That shouldn’t be a blocker anyway - it’s THTC that’s a blocker, NOT RTS in general. And you don’t even have RTS...

Leave this with us… We have some Joker Cards for this one… :D

Hey @MT_OVO24,

 @Blastoise186 and @Firedog have given lots of handy information so far. 

The best way to handle this is by calling our Support Team. We have a dedicated team set up to deal with exotic meters and complex metering. The system should automatically direct your call to this team when it knows your account information, but if you have any challenges when you speak with someone, ask to be passed to a member of Squad 70. They are the team handling these types of setups.

Let us know how things progress!

Thank you for the reply, I have managed to get through to Squad 70 but still get the same answer.

He was made aware that the off peak supply hasn’t been used since the 1980s and will never be needed again and that the timer is mechanical pre RTS, he understood the situation but was adamant that nothingcould be done because there are 2 MPANs.

The new in development smart meter will be rolled out later in the year aparently but from reading the forum this has been the ongoing answer.

Frustrating to say the least.

That’s an interesting point that I hadn’t considered. Two MPANs usually means two standing charges. Until a couple of years ago, this didn’t matter much, but with standing charges nowadays at 60p a day, it’s no longer insignificant (£220 a year for each meter). An electricity bill will reveal whether this is the case or not. It should also tell you what both the MPANs and the Meter Serial Numbers (MSN) are, information to be noted down because you’ll undoubtedly need to quote them when conducting this exercise. 

You might tell us which tariff this account is using. If it’s a complex one with different Time of Use rates, you may be paying substantially over the odds for the electricity being used. If it isn’t, I can’t see any reason why the second, unused meter can’t just be disconnected. That involves the DNO (presumably National Grid), but the request has to come from the supplier (OVO). The second MPAN would then be removed from the national database and the reason for not installing a smart meter should go away …

In some cases, OVO zaps the second Standing Charge and only charges a single one for 2 MPAN setups - the details are in your Tariff.

I am just paying one standing charge for the 2 meters and am on the simpler energy tariff.

I am awaiting a call back from the DNO to see if they can change the supply and get rid of the unused meter and the associated MPAN number.

According to the DNO it is a simple matter for the enery supply company to request removal of a MPAN number from the database but for some reason the person I spoke to in squad 70 at OVO said it is impossible to remove a MPAN number once it has been assigned!

Hey @MT_OVO24,

The supply would have easily been removed if it were as simple as the DNO believes. The DNO can give you more information about their stance on the removal process, which may help. If Squad 70 advises that it can’t be removed at this stage, then that’s the advice we’d suggest, as they are specifically trained for these meter types. As @Firedog has pointed out, though, you can still follow the complaints process to see if escalating would make any difference. 
 
Hopefully, you will get some answers soon to resolve this. Could you keep us updated if you make any breakthroughs?