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National enrolment and adoption (E & A) of SMETS1 smart meters onto the Data Communications Company (DCC) - Your Guide

National enrolment and adoption (E & A) of SMETS1 smart meters onto the Data Communications Company (DCC) - Your Guide
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S
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Hello,

We are looking at moving across to ovo from british gas soon, we currently have a Landis+Gyr E470 and our meter still hasn’t been upgraded, at least the smart meter check page keeps saying it can’t find the meter anyway.

My question is, when I move across to ovo, the meter will obviously go dumb, is there a rough timeline for these meters to be upgraded or is it still just a wildcard as to when it may work again?

I don’t mind it going dumb just to have the chance to get away from british gas, but I would like it to eventually work properly again preferably in the not too distant future.

Cheers

BPLightlog
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Hi @Sloth its been suggested that if they can’t upgrade the S1 meters by the end of the year they will be swapped out for a new meter - having said that, it was meant to be completed last year

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Blastoise186
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Howdy @Sloth !

Should be either within 12 months, or if that fails OVO would replace it with an S2 setup.

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O
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Hi there!

In a few months I’m going to be moving into a flat that’s got a SMETS1 meter originally installed by SSE (It’s an Alclara SGM1311 with the SGC1311 communications module on the top). The current owner of the property is with Ovo and the meter is automatically providing meter readings.

 

Based on the fact it’s providing meter readings to Ovo, does this mean that it’s definitely gone through the E&A process?

 

We put the MPAN into into https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk and it comes up with:

Your electricity meter isn’t working in smart mode

You have a first generation (SMETS1) electricity meter.

Your supplier can't support it in smart mode yet.

You should take regular meter readings and send them to your supplier. If you don’t, they’ll send you estimated bills.

 

However, I’ve heard that tool is not completely reliable.

Additionally, as this is all a bit new to me, is a SMETS1 meter that’s gone through the E&A process as good for switching to other suppliers as a SMETS2 meter? Or will there still be some suppliers that can’t support it?

Blastoise186
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Yup! Aclara meters went through E&A some time ago and work like a SMETS2. All suppliers should support it. If it breaks, it can be replaced with an S2.

Source: I had one myself.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Firedog
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We put the MPAN into into https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk and it comes up with:

Your electricity meter isn’t working in smart mode

However, I’ve heard that tool is not completely reliable.

 

Just FYI, my meter went through E&A a few months ago. It started providing data to OVO and third-party data handlers within a couple of days, but the CA tool still tells me the same as you’re seeing. So yes, the tool is unreliable as regards some SMETS1 meters. 

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
D
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I have, I believe, a SMETS1 meter (installed by Ovo in the early days of the meter rollout), and one of those gloriously slow and hard to understand monochrome display devices.

From what I can read it sounds as if I just need to sit tight and wait to just be told about any chance to upgrade. Is that the case?

Blastoise186
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Hi @dartiss ,

I’m one of the forum volunteers.

I think you’re talking about a Secure Liberty meter and a Secure Pipit 500 IHD, is that right? If so, it should in theory have been migrated to DCC by now. Try https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/ as that can tell you. Be careful, it lags behind quite a bit!

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
D
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Thanks. You’re right - it is those models.

Where I will find my MPAN number on my online account?

Blastoise186
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You can grab it from any of your bills under https://account.ovoenergy.com/billing-history but you’ll need to download them. MyOVO no longer seems to show them within the portal itself, probably because too many folks were accidentally leaking their MPAN on forums like this one.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
D
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Thanks - found it.

So, that website told me…

Your electricity meter's working in smart mode

 

Which I already knew. It confirms it’s a SMETS1 too.

But that didn’t answer my original question, unless I missed something.

Blastoise186
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If that tool says the meter is in Smart Mode, it’s already had the upgrade. If it hadn’t yet been done, it’d likely be in the queue.

Those that fail to upgrade at all become eligible for a free S2 replacement.

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D
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When you say “upgrade”, do you mean it’s now SMETS2?

Blastoise186
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No, it remains SMETS1. The upgrade as many people call it, are firmware updates that allow S1 meters to migrate to DCC and then actually getting migrated to DCC. As they’re ultimately still S1 hardware and firmware, they remain S1 meters.

I like to call those ones SMETS1+ or S1+ for short as they run like an S2.

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D
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So, the next question is about an upgrade to SMETS2. When is that likely to happen and do I need to do anything about it?

Blastoise186
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No need. If things are working no further action is required.

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D
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So, despite lots of other companies not supporting my meter (as a smart meter anyway), there are no plans to upgrade it? I guess there’s no incentive for Ovo to do it but it is a bitter pill for being so keen to be on the smart meter rollout.

Blastoise186
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The upgrade is done mostly by DCC in the background. There’s no hardware replacement involved. OVO will/would have let you know when it was taking place via email.

There’s no way to speed it up I’m afraid.

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Blastoise186
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The real problem that you’ve got is that over 50% of suppliers that installed S1 Secure Liberty meters are now dead for one reason or another. If they were still around, you could have switched to any of those freely while retaining Smart features even before DCC existed.

Alas, they mostly went bust or got swallowed by someone else.

These are the ones that used to install them:

  • Utilita Energy Limited
  • Co-operative Energy Ltd - dead (went bust, Octopus took over)
  • First Utility Ltd aka Shell Energy - basically dead now because Shell wants out
  • Electricity Plus Supply Ltd t/a The Utility Warehouse
  • E (Gas & Electricity)
  • Spark Energy Supply Limited - dead (went bust)
  • Eversmart Energy Ltd - dead (went bust)
  • EON Energy (now E.On Next but limited support for unmigrated meters)
  • Robin Hood Energy Limited - dead (went bust)
  • Ecotricity
  • Bristol Energy - dead (went bust)
  • OVO Energy
  • Our Power Energy Supply Ltd - dead (went bust)
  • Octopus Energy

Out of those that remain, if you have S1 Secure that’s not migrated and want it to keep working… You’re basically limited to just OVO and Octopus if you want Pay Monthly. The others don’t really support Pay Monthly or aren’t really in a position (in my personal opinion) to take such customers on.

If you want PAYG, then your options would be either OVO, Utilita, ecotricity or E as the only four that I know of which do PAYG and have full support for unmigrated S1 Secure.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Firedog
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I have, I believe, a SMETS1 meter (installed by Ovo in the early days of the meter rollout), and one of those gloriously slow and hard to understand monochrome display devices.

From what I can read it sounds as if I just need to sit tight and wait to just be told about any chance to upgrade. Is that the case?

That’s what I’ve got, too, installed in early 2017. I’ve nothing to compare with, so I’ve not noticed that dear little Pipit being particularly ‘slow’ - in what respect? I see the last half hour’s usage within seconds of the half hour ending. 

When you’ve found your MPAN and plugged it into the CA tool, note that it’s not to be relied on, at least for Secure meters. It still claims:
 

Your electricity meter isn’t working in smart mode

You have a first generation (SMETS1) electricity meter.

Your supplier can't support it in smart mode yet.

 

when in fact it’s been working as intended since it was enrolled and adopted (‘E&A’) by DCC back in February. Mine is electricity-only, so on the Pipit’s History screen, the Usage button shows the actual meter reading. I understand that many more modern IHDs don’t show the meter reading, but I’m sure @Blastoise186 will put me right if that’s not the case. 

I don’t think you’ll be able to get a replacement meter if the one you’ve got is working properly, unless it still hasn’t been E&A’d by the end of this year. Be careful what you wish for!

 

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
Blastoise186
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Some modern IHDs can show the meter readings, such as the Chameleon IHD6/IHD7, Hildebrand Bright and Geo Trio II models. Others… Not so much glares at IHDL.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Jeffus
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I have, I believe, a SMETS1 meter (installed by Ovo in the early days of the meter rollout), and one of those gloriously slow and hard to understand monochrome display devices.

From what I can read it sounds as if I just need to sit tight and wait to just be told about any chance to upgrade. Is that the case?

That’s what I’ve got, too, installed in early 2017. I’ve nothing to compare with, so I’ve not noticed that dear little Pipit being particularly ‘slow’ - in what respect? I see the last half hour’s usage within seconds of the half hour ending. 

When you’ve found your MPAN and plugged it into the CA tool, note that it’s not to be relied on, at least for Secure meters. It still claims:
 

Your electricity meter isn’t working in smart mode

You have a first generation (SMETS1) electricity meter.

Your supplier can't support it in smart mode yet.

 

when in fact it’s been working as intended since it was enrolled and adopted (‘E&A’) by DCC back in February. Mine is electricity-only, so on the Pipit’s History screen, the Usage button shows the actual meter reading. I understand that many more modern IHDs don’t show the meter reading, but I’m sure @Blastoise186 will put me right if that’s not the case. 

I don’t think you’ll be able to get a replacement meter if the one you’ve got is working properly, unless it still hasn’t been E&A’d by the end of this year. Be careful what you wish for!

 

Interesting, we have seen that before where the citizens advice tool appears to  use data that takes a long time to update. 

 

Emmanuelle_OVO
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Hey @Olu,

 

Welcome to the OVO Online Community,

 

I can see @Blastoise186 and @Firedog have already given some helpful advice here. Just wanted to add that the following topics may have some helpful advice:

 

 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
Firedog
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… the citizens advice tool appears to  use data that takes a long time to update. 

 

@Jeffus I’m not so sure that this has to do with the time it takes to update. It’s more likely that it’s something systemic at DCC, which seems to have problems with these Secure Liberty meters. It is after all 18 weeks since mine was E&A’d, and the CA tool is still giving the wrong message. It’s bit cryptic, though, so I can’t rule out that the hiccup is at OVO. This is what it says:
  

You have a first generation (SMETS1) electricity meter.

Your supplier can't support it in smart mode yet. You should take regular meter readings and send them to your supplier. If you don’t, they’ll send you estimated bills.

If you normally top up using an app and you're no longer able to, talk to your supplier.

If you want your meter to work in smart mode you can switch to a supplier who can support your meter in smart mode.

Your supplier is also working to upgrade your meter to smart mode. They'll let you know when they’ve done this. They'll do it remotely, so you won't need to do anything to your meter.

  
It’s as if the tool thinks that it’s OVO that has the problem (“you can switch to a supplier who can support your meter in smart mode.”), even though everything is working more or less as expected. 

 

 

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
juliamc
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Ah @Firedog thats very useful. Mine is a Secure Liberty too and the CA tool tells me I’m with OVO even though I switched last month.

The fog is clearing…

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