Why has my usage doubled since my smart meter was installed?

I thin that summarises OVO - https://utilityweek.co.uk/ovo-tops-ukrn-list-for-complaints/

Ovo Energy received more complaints per 100,000 customers than any other supplier in the energy sector’s latest scorecard by the UK Regulators Networks (UKRN).

Beginning last year, UKRN publishes annual scorecards for four sectors: Energy, water, telecoms and finance.

The scorecards examine key consumer metrics covering service quality, price differentials and satisfaction levels.

Information in the scorecard for energy was collected by Ofgem in Q3 and Q4 2020 and compared to the same time in 2019, the total volume of complaints received by suppliers decreased.

Topping the list with 2,293 complaints per 100,000 in Q3 is Ovo Energy, which also includes the customers of SSE which it acquired in January last year, as well as those of Boost and Spark Energy.

Having posted on this forum for a few months this is what i have observed rather than anything scientific. So it may not be completely accurate. 

OVO appear to have had more issues than they would have liked migrating customers from SSE to OVO. Most migrations have been fine, but too many have had issues, some have been slow to resolve it appears.

Also I wonder if OVO is careful enough on following up on issues generally raised by customers, particularly whether they are quick enough and whether they keep customers informed. It may be more issues result in complains as customers get rightly frustrated. 

Review sites aren't a perfect proxy but OVO doesn't do bad in customer feedback although obviously there are some unhappy customers. This is a comparison of OVO vs Scottish Power for example. 

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.ovoenergy.com

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.scottishpower.co.uk

Overall i have been very happy with OVO, albeit they are not perfect. But obviously some customers have had bigger issues. 

This is not about customer satisfaction but about billing and something is definitely going on with their meters - like many others in this forum my problem started as soon as smart metre was installed. We can’t all be wrong and OVO right. 

Please check out the thread below. I just found that my old meter was not deleted from records after the smart meter was installed, so my suplier thought I had two meters and was overcharging me. To be fair this was more the fault of the previous supplier who arranged for the smart meter to be installed, but regardless it was not easy to gather all the information and needed support from “experts” to identify the cause and convince the current supplier to probe deeper and confirm it was actually a problem and wipe a large amount from my bills.

I am now hoping to spread the word about this to pay forward the help I received from forum members!

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6575827/double-charging-counting-on-my-electricity-bill/p1 

I’m so glad you managed to get this sorted eventually ​@pwood45. It sounds like a very stressful situation!

Hope you have a lovely Christmas & thank you for sharing your experience 😊 

The new meter was installed on Dec 13th, 2024 and suddenly the bills have drastically increased. While previously, I was paying like £60-70 per month on average, I am being charged like £5-6 pounds per day now, without any significant change in my energy usage. I have paid the bills two days ago and the balance was zero. Now, after just two days, it increased to £11.7! I really do not understand what is going on and opened a complaint. I was wondering whether anyone else has the same issue.

Hi ​@sfmoosavian ,

Just curious but was the previous meter a Smart Meter, and if not did you submit regular meter readings?

If you could also tell us things like your usage patterns, your tariff and what sort of heating/hot water you’ve got, we may be able to help figure this out. Forum Volunteers such as myself can’t access your account, so we can only see what you’re able to tell us.

Hi ​@Blastoise186 Thank you for the comment.

As far as I know, the previous one was not a smart one. I have rented this place and moved in four months ago but I was told by OVO that the meter needs to be replaced.

My issue is that nothing has changed on my end regarding the energy usage hence this sudden increase in bills does not make sense to me.

There is a heater in the unit, electric shower, and also water heater.

Here is the energy plan.

Unfortunately, I cannot see what it was. Also, the usage graph is not available

I am not sure if these are all you are looking for.

I assume that you are reading that £11.7! either from your In Home Display or from your online ‘live’ billing?

EDIT - we cross posted, you can’t see the online billing so it must be the IHD.

The figures shown on the IHD are just an indication, and may not be accurate.
In particular the money amounts will depend on what tariff the meter and IHD are showing, which may not be your actual tariff as it currently stands.

The online ‘Live’ billing is also just a daily indication and can be inaccurate for a few reasons.
eg. If the smart meter isn’t connecting, or only sending readings weekly or monthly then OVO haven’t got the data from it yet so the daily ‘usage’ will simply be estimated.

In the end both the IHD and the ‘Live’ billing can be useful, but also sometimes can be out and so confusing.

They don’t really matter though for what you pay - that is based on the meter readings at the start and end of your monthly billing periods.

As an example I had a new gas meter fitted in mid November, it’s only sending monthly readings (must contact customer support and get that changed).
I also havent had any gas usage charges applied to my bills since the change, not even estimates, so I know that my ‘live’ billing is currently too low a figure and will need to be caught up later. (I’m not too bothered because I know my DD amount is covering it and building up credit).

PS. My IHD also shows the wrong tariff and always has done, again support can correct that pretty easily if I ask. I havent bothered up to now because I read the kWh and not the £s.

Got it, thanks. You actually had a pretty expensive tariff previously as Superdeal is horrible value these days - I suspect your account is still being updated at the moment but it should kick over to your new tariff within the next few weeks. If it doesn’t do so within six weeks, please let OVO Support know.

The reason for the meter swap is because RTS is shutting down - and OVO has no choice but to terminate the Superdeal tariff. Please see the thread below for more details.

• RTS (Radio Teleswitch Service) Shutdown Update F.A.Q.

Let me grab ​@Nukecad too, for the number crunching (except that he Ninja’d me lol)

I suspect that what you are seeing is a combination of various things as your account is being updated, so I wouldn’t rely on what anything is saying day-to-day at the moment.

Can we assume that you chose a new tariff,  (E7,E9,E10) and not Superdeal, when your new meter was fitted?
I don’t think that you can stay with Superdeal, but I’m not an expert on this RTS changeover -Blastoise186 is the expert on that (and usually knows more than the general customer support do).

That’s correct - Superdeal isn’t supported on Smart Meters IIRC and is being fully withdrawn. You’ll get to choose a new tariff to replace it as part of this process.

​@Nukecad That you for the comments. Really appreciate it. 

I am reading £11.7 on OVO website. So you are saying it is not accurate?
 

Can we assume that you chose a new tariff,  (E7,E9,E10) and not Superdeal, when your new meter was fitted?

I believe the new meter is E7, with 12am-7am are the off-peak times. 
 

​@Blastoise186 Thanks for letting me know that superdeal isn’t supported on new meters. I believe the new one is E7.

Yeah, that’d make sense - E7 is supported on Smart. My guess is things are still processing so I’d definitely say keep an eye on what’s happening.

Whereabouts on the website?

You wrote originally “suddenly the bills have drastically increased”. If you’re looking at a figure labelled Today’s balance, that isn’t a bill. It’s just an indication of the balance on your account, taking into account what it was at the start of the billing period less the cost of your usage since then plus any payments you’ve made since then. You can see where the figure comes from on the Billing details page.

If your meter is only sending readings once a month, any consumption shown will be based on estimates, which may well not bear much resemblance to reality. Please check this page; you should ensure that at least the first half-hour option is selected, and I’d suggest that you select the second also, perhaps after reading this article: There’s an industry wide change coming to meter reading consent, and we want to share the details with you | The OVO Forum. Your meter will then start sending its midnight readings every day, and also details of your usage for every half hour during the day so you can see precisely how much energy you’re using when.  

I would update this for a few days. It was ZERO three days ago.

​@Firedog Thanks for the comment.

As I mentioned in the main comment, I paid the entire balance, and it was ZERO three days ago, now it is £16.03 while it was £11.70 yesterday!!! It is unbelievable to me! I was using this much half into the billing period when I had the previous meter. With this rate, my monthly bill would be at least £160, more than twice of what of was paying before.

Please check this page; you should ensure that at least the first half-hour option is selected, and I’d suggest that you select the second

This is what I see when I click on the link.

Great, those screenshots are from your online account so we know where to look..
(PS. I’ve asked the mods to redact your account number, it’s never a good idea to show such personal details on an open forum).

If you click on ‘Usage’ in the menu at the side of the page, then select ‘Electricity’ and ‘Day’ can you see your half hour usages?
(I have mine set to show kWh, but it’s similar if you have it set to show cost as £’s).

Note that depending on your meter, or the way it is set up, (or if it isn’t fully set up yet), you may see this instead:

Next (or if there is no half-hour usage) set it to show ‘Month’ instead of day.
We are particularly interested in the numbers in the table underneath the graph.
Are they green like this?
 

That stuff in those usage graphs and charts is just an indication of how you are using energy for your general information.

It isn’t used for your actual billing, so now let’s look at what is used for billling.

On the side menu, select ‘Meter Readings’, note any message about smart meter readings, and then select ‘View reading History’

You are intersted in 2 things here, first is it set to Hide estimates? Second what type of readings is it showing in the end column - Smart, Manual, or Estimate?

​@Nukecad Thanks.

(PS. I’ve asked the mods to redact your account number, it’s never a good idea to show such personal details on an open forum).

You are absolutely right. I removed the personal part. Hopefully, no one has noted my account number.

If you click on ‘Usage’ in the menu at the side of the page, then select ‘Electricity’ and ‘Day’ can you see your half hour usages?

I had posted it above. Here it is

Also, regarding the meter.

So you can see that I am being billed with the new smart meter.

Oops. your did it again - your MPAN is on that last screenshot.

Those meter readings are Smart and so they are what you are actually using.

The daily usage in kWh does not look excessive there. Yesterday was 8 kWh Peak and 5 kWh off-peak.

My electricity use was 4.9 kWh yesterday, and I am considered a pretty low electricity user.
I use gas for heating not electricity.

So lets apply your tariff to those kWh, let’s assume that it is still the Superdeal shown above.
It may not be - they may already be using the E7 rates to calculate your billing even though that isn’t what is showing on your account yet.

For yesterdays usage (reading received on 16 January).

£2.2928 Peak (28.66p x 8)
£1.091   Off-Peak (21.82p x 5)
£0.6747 Standing Charge
£4.0585 Total for that day
               Add VAT @5%
£4.2614 Chargable

Some days the balance will increase by a bit more, some days by a bit less, but I wouldn’t say that £16.03 in 3-days looks too unusual with that usage and that tariff (particularly in the cold weather we have just had).

Just another thought here.

First off to say that your current usage looks reasonable overall.

However even though ostensibly on the same tariff you may be seeing a difference in what you are being charged now to previously.

Although your account is still showing Superdeal with Peak, Off-Peak, and 'Heat' rates (with not that much difference between the Off-peak and Heat rates) the new meter has just 2 rates, Peak and Off-Peak.

You may need to adjust how/when you use your heating, particularly if some of the use that was on the Superdeal 'Heat' rate has now ended up in 'Peak' periods.
I have no idea at all what the Superdeal Off-peak and Heat timings might have been. Maybe there was/is a mid-day heating boost etc? If so then that may now have ended up in Peak.

You said above:

I believe the new meter is E7, with 12am-7am are the off-peak times.

If that's correct then any use outside of those times will be being charged as Peak.

It's something that you will need to evaluate over time, which will be easier to do once things have settled down with your account.
Having half-hourly smart readings available would be a big help there.

Hi ​@sfmoosavian 

Sorry for the confusion caused since the change of meter. I can see some incredibly helpful responses here and I’m happy to see the level of accurate assistance being provided by our Plan Zero Heroes.

Please note, the Usage graphs will not show monthly and yearly data yet, as the meter is so new. You'll currently be able to view the Daily usage back to the date the meter was installed. It would be a great idea to contact our Support Team to ask them to check whether you are definitely on the correct tariff for your heating set up. 

If you contact Support, you will automatically go through to a dedicated team of great Advisors who are specifically trained in these more unique installations such as RTS. Get in touch when you can - they’re a lovely bunch and will be able to shed light on all of this for you.

​@Nukecad Thanks a lot. 

Oops. your did it again - your MPAN is on that last screenshot.

Damn :) Apparently a moderator has removed it. 
 

You may need to adjust how/when you use your heating, particularly if some of the use that was on the Superdeal 'Heat' rate has now ended up in 'Peak' periods

I totally understand but I am out of home most of the day and I just return to sleep and use the heater for like 2 hours per day, mostly during off-peak time. 

Some days the balance will increase by a bit more, some days by a bit less, but I wouldn’t say that £16.03 in 3-days looks too unusual with that usage and that tariff (particularly in the cold weather we have just had).

This is very unusual in the following sense: £16.3 was something I was using half into the billing period while now it has just taken three days! My highest charge has been £72. With this rate, I would pay roughly ​​​​​​£160, which is more than twice I was used to pay. This is highly unusual regarding that my usage pattern has not changed compared to a month ago.

Hi ​@Ben_OVO, Thanks for the comment.

 It would be a great idea to contact our Support Team to ask them to check whether you are definitely on the correct tariff for your heating set up. 

I have already opened a complaint and I am waiting for the result. If it didn’t solve the issue, I would contact you again. 

In the five days covered by the meter readings you shared, you used 36 kWh during peak hours and 51 kWh offpeak. That is pretty normal for a property suitable for Economy 7 pricing. However, your Plan page is showing Superdeal rates, not E7 ones. Please look at the billing details page to see what rates you’re actually being charged at. I’ll go one stage further than Nukecad and see what those five days’ consumption should have cost:

Superdeal

36 x £0.2866 x 1.05 = £10.83
51 x £0.2185 x 1.05 = £11.70
 5 x £0.6747 x 1.05 = £ 3.54 
Total   £ 26.07
£26.07 / 5 = £5.21/day or about £159 per month on average.

Economy 7

36 x £0.2779 x 1.05 = £10.50
51 x £0.1863 x 1.05 = £ 9.98
 5 x £0.6747 x 1.05 = £ 3.54 
Total   £ 24.02
£24.02 / 5 = £ 4.80/day or about £146 per month on average.

These are the quoted prices for the Southern England region, paying on receipt of bill. If you were to pay by Direct Debit, your Economy 7 calculation would look like this:

Economy 7

36 x £0.2645 x 1.05 = £10.00
51 x £0.1764 x 1.05 = £ 9.45
 5 x £0.6140 x 1.05 = £  3.22
Total   £ 22.67
£24.02 / 5 = £ 4.53/day or about £138 per month on average.

If you’re not paying Economy 7 rates, you should insist on that being changed. The big difference between E7 and Superdeal is that you pay for energy according to when you use it, not what you use it for.

Now, you claim that this is much more than you were paying previously. You would have to check your bills from September to December to see how much electricity (in kWh) you were using at the peak and (two not very different) offpeak rates. It sounds as if some of what you used to get at cheap rate is now being charged at the peak rate. This might include: 

• Electric shower, the most power-hungry appliance you have, perhaps 9-10 kW.  It could be costing you 50p per shower, perhaps £15 a month. If you could shift this to offpeak times (e.g. before 07:00), that would shrink by a third.
• Any electric heaters other than night storage heaters. These would normally be wired to the heating circuit and charged at the heating rate. Now, they will be charged at peak rate if they’re run during peak hours. 
• Water heater. Some people leave their immersion heater on all the time, which is usually very wasteful regardless of the rate being paid. It would normally take a water heater a couple of hours during the night to bring the temperature up to where you want it to be, and a reasonably lagged tank will stay hot enough for at least a day’s consumption. 
• Heated towel rail - you didn’t mention this, but it’s common to have some sort of heating in the bathroom, because it’s isolated from the rest of the dwelling. It may not be power-greedy, but again, some people leave it on all the time. That can quickly become expensive. If you have an early-morning shower and don’t like the transition from warm bed to icy bathroom, you could turn on the towel rail at bedtime and remember to switch it off again after your shower. That would mostly run at the offpeak rate and cost perhaps 15p a night. 

The first three things alone could help account for the difference you’re seeing in costs. 

We’re all cost-conscious, so reducing your bills by 5-6% by electing to pay by Direct Debit seems an obvious step. Then, a few minor changes in behaviour could make a big difference. 

We can’t really say any more unless we can see how much electricity you were using before the meter exchange. It’s the kWh that count, not the costs, when trying to make comparisons.
  

​@Firedog Thanks for all the details.

To be honest, I do not care about £10-20 pounds difference compared to the past but the price is literally doubled and even more. I am not OK with that. There is something going on.

I remember the person who installed the new meter told me that something like “wires are thin (or something similar). You might wanna tell the landlord/renting agency but probably they are not going to do anything about it”. I am wondering whether this has anything to do with the issue.

One point regarding your computation. It is not for five days. It is just three days. Let’s consider your E7 computation. Then, it is £24.02/3=£8.007, which is pretty high. Don’t you think increasing from £70-80 per month to £146 per month while nothing (literally nothing) has changed is very weird and unusual?

If you’re not paying Economy 7 rates, you should insist on that being changed.

I am not sure on which plan I am. The website shows superdeal. I am wondering why it is so difficult to update a website. We are not living in the stone age!

The first three things alone could help account for the difference you’re seeing in costs.

All of these were in place before. As I said, nothing has changed and I do not have heated towel rail.

We can’t really say any more unless we can see how much electricity you were using before the meter exchange. It’s the kWh that count, not the costs, when trying to make comparisons.

This is as far as it goes. I do not have access to previous months.

I found these billings though

Sep 13th - Oct 12th

Oct 13th - Nov 12th

Nov 13th - Dec 12th

All of these were with the previous meter. Now, the new meter

Dec 13th - Jan 12th

I understand part of this as I had to pay £72 from the previous month. You can clearly see the sudden increase. I believe

On Peak-Time tarrif has changed from 20.97p to 28.85

Off Peak time tarrif has changed from 18.66o to 21.85.

If what I understand is correct, then OVO should explain to my why they told me the tariff of off-peak and on-peak time will not change. I ask this explicitly when I talked to their agent. They have probably recorded the call and have it. 

And one last point!

I just arrived home; 2.24 am in the morning; nothing was on from 12pm of the previous day (i.e. more than 14 hours!!!) and I already have used £1.10 pounds today, i.e in just 2 hours and 24 minutes. Literally nothing was on except the fridge as usual!!!

Some update. Still nothing is on and it is keep increasing

​@Ben_OVO ​@Nukecad Based on what I posted above, is my understanding correct that

On Peak-Time tarrif has changed from 20.97p to 28.85

Off Peak time tarrif has changed from 18.66o to 21.85?