THTC meter - Removal Request

Unfortunately, it’s beyond OVO’s control - it’s an unfortunate design decision made 30+ years ago by engineers of the day and it’s one OVO - and the industry as a whole - is currently stuck with.

Until such time that the transmission and distribution networks get those much needed upgrades, THTC is here to stay - Smart Meters or otherwise - and I can’t guarantee you’ll ever get off of it.

What is the "unfortunate design decision made 30+ years ago" that might mean we may never be able to get of THYC?

Why do the transmission and distribution networks need to be upgraded to give us the same electricity that we are using at the moment? 

Because at the time THTC was developed, the networks and infrastructure simply didn’t have the capacity required to support the huge demand for electricity required by all the various heating appliances that consumers were trying to use - a problem that still somewhat exists to this day.

It was a “Quick Fix” solution to avoid having to spend several million pounds on infrastructure upgrades at the time. It just… Kinda stuck around for probably a lot longer than what may (or may not) have been originally intended.

Even now, capacity up in Scotland - especially the rural areas where THTC is common - just isn’t up to scratch with how things are basically everywhere else. Unless you’re on the Orkney Islands of course, where they’ve actually got too much super eco juice and not enough ways to get rid of it by sending it to the mainland. The 40MW interconnector cables between the Orkney Islands and the mainland just simply isn’t anywhere near enough to send all that extra power through - it’d need to be upgraded to 100MW+ (anyone got £250 Million spare?) and have an absolute ton more generation sources in order to power pretty much all the Scottish Highlands. Only then could you get super green eco juice to replace THTC with… But there’s a problem with that too.

Tom Scott explains it better than me though, so I’ll let him do the rest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UmsfXWzvEA

Then why do so many people who live around me have smart meters and access to great tariffs through other providers while I am stuck with OVO and a crappy rate in a THTC meter?

Because they might not have had THTC? I’m not a crystal ball and cannot predict the actions of others. Nor do I have X-Ray Vision giving me the ability to see what others have done.

OVO is not the only supplier offering THTC by the way. There just aren’t many that do.

Then it is clearly not an issue with the transmission and distribution infrastructure as you previously suggested. The issue is with the meters which is entirely OVOs responsibility.

We’ve said this before, but you should do your own, proper solid research before pointing the Finger of Blame aimlessly. It’s taken me over four years to learn what I know - and that’s four years of pretty deep research. And all of that research has been done whilst simultaneously researching other stuff, doing other volunteer roles and earning a living - I don’t get paid to do what I do here on the Forum.

The ultimate issue IS with the transmission and distribution infrastructure - there just wasn’t enough of it when THTC was created and arguably still isn’t enough now. That matter is well beyond OVO’s control. The Orkney Islands has enough eco juice capacity to potentially solve 99% of this issue, but alas the existing 40MW Interconnector is not enough to get all that juice back to the mainland. If it was upgraded, THTC could well be made a thing of the past. The absolutely bonkers amount of potential generation capacity up there could easily power an absolute ton of stuff...

Those who don’t have Storage Heaters or Immersion Heaters DO NOT have to be on THTC - but it’s also possible they’re on some other complex tariff. Without seeing all their setups, it’s impossible to comment and I cannot speculate as to what they have - nor can anyone.

There’s also the Load Managed Areas too, where THTC is far more heavily enforced…

As for the meters? It’s 100% true that OVO never had anything to do with the creation of the existing THTC Meters. That fell mostly to a company called Horstmann who are now known as Secure (the same one that does Secure branded Smart Meters) and also to the engineers of the day which would have been long before OVO was founded. Likewise, OVO cannot build the replacement Smart Meters on its own - it must rely on the authorised manufacturers to do that task. The only part OVO is responsible for in this specific context, is hooking them up to its systems and I know that this has been a huge project that’s been cooking for several years - OVO has shown me that progress directly but has asked me to keep it confidential at this time. Once the new setups go public, I’ll be able to talk about them more openly, but not before.

I stand by my word. As much as I too WANT to see THTC be totally banished, I unfortunately cannot foresee it happening anytime soon. I cannot guarantee that anyone in particular will be able to get off of THTC, neither can I make any promises about what tariff you can switch to. That is well beyond my power.

But…

I have asked OVO to come off THTC. I don’t want overnight storage heaters or any of the other “benefits” of THTC.

I want the THTC meter taken out and a standard Smart Meter put in.  It’s that simple. I am not in a Load Managed Area.

Why is this a problem? Why are OVO telling me this is not possible?

The implication of above is that the electricity I already consume via a THTC meter cannot be supplied if I change to a smart meter????

That’s absurd.
 

So, your up-to-date advice is “wait”