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

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!

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!

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 …

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?

Hey @MT_OVO24,

That’s fantastic news, as well as speedy service from the DNO! I feel that we see that more people are looking into alternative heating and power options but can face challenges regarding their meter type! I think what you’ve shared so far will be helpful to people with similar metering struggles. I’ll be keeping a close eye on your progress 🙂

Hey @Firedog,

Feedback is important, and we can relay this back to the team to ensure they’re providing the best information and advice! 
 

OK, so now we have another piece to this jigsaw puzzle. It’s not just that there are two MPANs, but that they are linked. So it’s back to OVO support and tell them your DNO has asked for the link between your two MPANS to be broken, followed by a disconnect request for the redundant one. Good luck with that - nobody said it would be simple 🤷🏼

Thank you

Howdy!

Please watch this space, some hot news is on the way regarding the future of THTC. So hot in fact, that I’ve not even had a chance to write the post yet - I literally just got told it today.

All I can say for now… Is that I think you may want to hear this...

Please allow me some time to get things written up and checked over, as well as getting permission to make it public (I need OVO’s permission for this one!). We don’t yet have an exact date as to when I can spill the beans, but please keep watching the Forum - feel free to check in anytime and we’ll try to tell you whatever can be made public at that point.

Just to add to what Blastoise has said here. As part of the RTS Project development, we are really happy to share with you our progress:

As you may be aware, the RTS signal that instructs some of our meters when to move to the “Off Peak Period”  will be closing down soon and we need to arrange for all of our RTS customers to have a meter exchange so they don’t lose any of their meter functionality.

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. 

We will continue to update you on our progress 

Hi @MT_OVO24,

I’m really sorry about this. I understand your frustration.

This is now with our Forum_Support team who would be looking into this for you. They’d let you know as soon as there is an update.