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

I do not see why you need to change to a single distribution board - my father has 2 boards now - was 3 and shower was separate. You would only need a single meter with a set of tails supplying each board. 

Although if your boards are old, changing to a modern board is a huge advantage from a safety point of view, and when I installed solar - i had a new additional consumer unit fitted which also houses the solar meters. 

Thanks for the information @Abby_OVO but its the lack of even basic information of the proposed new arrangement thats annoying eg will it be a single meter? how many tails from the smart meter? my present set up has 4 tails from the meters for heating, 24 hour heating, water and domestic plus 2 neutral tails into my distribution boards.

I dont need to know the exact details of the proposed new set up for the meter and tariff just an outline of how many feeds (tails) will be coming from the new meter(s) to my distribution boards to allow me (and I suspect many others) to move forward with my solar panel and battery installation.

While I’m twiddling my thumbs waiting for the Ofgem 8 week period to pass...You’ve now posted a bit more info about the THTC replacement solution. Will this solution allow customers to come off the THTC arrangement (Economy and Heating Load tariff in our case) and move to a single meter arrangement?

As a reminder, I’m ditching the storage heaters to move to an A2A heat pump. Existing arrangement is 2 consumer units, one for storage heaters, second one for everything else incl immersion (immersion on economy 7 timer), second consumer unit fed through a twin white meter that supplies peak and overnight off peak elec.

Or will I still need to get the feed to the storage heater consumer unit removed completely from the supply?       

Thank you. I have 4.4kw of SW facing panels in NE Scotland with a Give Energy 3.6 inverter and 9.5kw GivEnergy battery, delighted with the performance - not great for me in winter with low sun as I get afternoon shading from my neighbours high roof, but in March my net cost for Electric was £0, and sorry to mention them in here - but that’s mainly due to Octopus Agile Smart Tarrif and charging battery cheaply and 15p per kwh for my exported solar. Last summer I made money for export most moths and fully supplied our needs (no EV or ASHP so not high usage)

Sigh… I’ve said this before…

This is not an OVO problem - it’s an industry problem. I fail to see how punishing OVO via complaints will do anything here. I also KNOW that the solution is coming that’ll unlock the next move.

OVO didn’t create the problem - it was dumped on them.

The SSE solution was imperfect and might not have worked out long term.

I am one of the few customers who knows the actual solution being developed. You’ll just have to trust me on this - it’s far superior to the SSE one.

Thanks for sharing details of your situations, @metalsman @Infiltrator @thelearner. 

I feel your pain about a lack of timeframe and certainty for when a smart meter solution is available for your THTC multi meter set ups. 

As you have this set up, you will be part of a cohort of customers that have access to advisors with training in these meter types when contact our Support team. If and when you want an update on your options, your best best is to call from the number registered with your OVO account to get through to this special team: 0330 303 5063.

One ask is that you come back here to advise the group on the forum. That way others don’t have to call and the latest information is shared. 

Like @Infiltrator I have been unsuccessful with, firstly SSE and subsequently, with OVO to get to a one meter solution.  Three years ago I was at the point of installing a PV arroy on my roof along with battery storage here in NE Scotland until I researched changing to a single meter. That stopped the process in its tracks.  I am aware of the continual delays to the switch off of the DTS which obviously affects the THTC tariff along with other tariffs from other suppliers. This is  an industry problem and not a solely OVO issue. I refuse to accept that the brain power in the electrical supply industry is so low that it cannot come up with an alternative as a replacement to the switch off of the DTS signal.  The signal was originally to be switched off by the BBC in 2020 I believe, and has been put back every year since - its now due to be switched off in June 2025.  I’ll believe that when I see it.

THTC was implemented as the electricity network in this area of Scotland (basically anything north of  Perth)did not have the necessary resilience or capacity in the network controlled by the DNO (SSEN).  In other words the customer had to bear the cost of the DNO not investing in their network.  That has now changed in recent years and SSEN and SP networks have invested huge sums to upgrade the high voltage distribution network but not yet the low voltage which supplies our homes.

What really annoys me is that THTC was one of the first TOU tarriffs (in 1988 I believe) as Hydro Electric (as it then was) guaranteed UP TO 12 hours of cheap heating but the actual hours you received was dependent on the weather and it was switched on and off by the supplier using the DTS signal when it suited them to enable load balancing in their area.  The cheap rate was basically half the cost per unit than the domestic supply e.g. in October 2011 the cheap rate was 7.02p, the normal rate was 15.95p and the standing charge was 31.31p.  Today (as of the April price reduction) the cheap rate is 21.65p, normal rate 28.31p and the standing charge 62.24p - do the maths, its nowhere near half the cost now for the cheap rate and has been like that for a number of years. And to rub salt into the wound, the OFGEM unit price rate cap only applies to standard tariffs not to exotic tariffs like THTC. There is no transparency on how the reductions or increases in unit rates are actually reached.

The failure of the industry has meant that a large number of people, as witnessed by some on this topic, have not been able to install renewable technologies as they would not receive the TOU benefits from such technologies as the tariff would remain as THTC.  I am aware that SSE and OVO have a single tariff for THTC users but that is set at the domestic THTC unit rate and therefore users are punished by paying a  higher unit rate than the OFGEM cap for single standard tariffs.

I am hoping that the advise from @Tim_OVO and @Blastoise186 will come true in the not too distant future and that those customers who want to install renewables will be able to go ahead and do so but, based on the history of this tortuous process, I am not holding my breath.

Thanks also for your response on the potential solution, thats most helpful.  Just to confirm, I attach photos of my metering and wiring arrangement at present. As I am responsible for the wiring from the switch disconnector beneath the meters to my distribution boards, I take it that the existing tails from the switch disconnector will remain “as is” with the proposed solution.

 

That isolator at the meter tails is a very nice solution. That should make the installation of the new single meter a breeze for the installers. I think your main incoming fuse (grey box) will remain - probably rated at 100A. Some new houses are only being fitted with 80A supplies from what I have heard.

For my solar install - in my cupboard where consumer unit is, a new consumer unit was installed with the solar metering equipment etc, with a 4mm cable from MCB run out to my garage where my inverter and battery is located. This was naive on my part I feel, should have asked for a bigger cable as eventually we will have a car charger in garage as well which I don’t think 4mm cable will be big enough for. I should have had a bigger cable from house consumer unit to garage and had the solar control consumer unit in the garage as well. 

Just a quick update on the switch off of the RTS (or DTS in our area as the switching times are dynamic i.e. they change from day to day).  OFGEM have recently sent a letter to all electricity supply companies expressing concern at the delay in switching to smart meters for those customers on the RTS system.  The latest figures for the number of RTS meters in use  is - wait for it - 922521. Many of these are “dumb” in that the switching times do not change from day to day but it shows the extent of the issue that suppliers are having to deal with.  They have in the past however put this problem at the bottom of their “to do” list hence the regulators concern.

I attach a link to the OFGEM letter.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/open-letter-smart-meter-installations-prepayment-and-radio-teleswitch-customers

It seems that they are at last putting a bit of pressure on suppliers and not before time.

I have just been informed that the deadline to replace the radio-teleswitches on THTC tariff has been again extended, now to June/July 2025. This may be good news for OVO Energy but it isn’t for customers stuck with this phenomenally expensive tariff. What is actually happening at OVO to expedite this. 

Thank you Blastoise186. I am aware that this isn’t a problem created by OVO. However, they were aware of what they were getting when they inherited this from SSE and have had a year or two to resolve this issue. I understand that well meaning people at OVO are working hard to resolve it but what are they actually doing; what are the infrastructure issues  that require developing. If you would be so kind as to get in touch with your contacts to find out exactly what needs to be done I will be obliged. Regards, Grapallie11.

I simply wish to move from THTC onto E7 with a smart meter. Simple; or so one would think but it can’t be done yet. Why I ask? Well it’s because of infrastructure issues. Mmmmmm!!!! And that’s the frustration.

Other energy suppliers won’t touch it either when they see the MPAN17 numbers. So I’m stuck for now along with many others.