Hi @kamk1949 and thanks for posting!

Quick question before someone else dives in with some info: can we have a picture of your electricity meter, or a name of make and model?

Hi @kamk1949 and welcome to the Forum.

If your meter was installed “several years ago” then it’s most likely to be SMETS1. The newer SMETS2 meters started being installed by most Energy Suppliers in Spring 2019.

And if yours is a SMETS1, then here’s a list of compatible suppliers. SSE is not amongst them.

Having said that, all SMETS1 meters are being upgraded to SMETS2 functionality by the manufacturers. They will then be moved across to the National Smart Meter Network by whoever is the current Supplier.

The UK is in the Middle Operating Capability phase of that migration, and the majority of meters will  have been migrated by Summer 2021. Any meters on the National Network can be accessed by all Energy Suppliers.

Hi Tim - thanks for your reply.  Here is a picture of my meter ...

Thanks for the information @Transparent - I guess that, by starting at this time of the year, my monthly direct debit will not lead to an accumulation of credit on the account so there is no disadvantage to paying by a fixed payment plan.  With SSE, I’ve been paying by variable direct debit on receipt of quarterly bill without any penalty for not having a payment plan.  For me, a payment plan seems like an added complication rather than a simplification but I guess that’s just the way I am! I usually just find the cheapest 2-year fix and then stick with it until it ends.

Yes, I suggest you take a Fixed 1yr or 2yr contract and pay by monthly Direct Debit. The vast majority of OVO customers (except those with pre-payment meters) work in this way.

The new Billing System generates a monthly Statement on the 1st of each month, regardless of the day when was your contract start-date. This matches the way in which the software handles your Smart Meter data.

If you move up to £1000 into your account in the first place, you’ll receive emails from month-2 suggesting that you reduce the amount of your DD.

The way in which we pay for energy is changing in line with a long-term Government strategy called Demand Side Response. This is taking us towards an option for a Time Of Use tariff, whereby the price per kWh varies in half-hour slots across the day.

At that point, the concept of 12-month contracts and comparison sites will start to fall away. Customers will make choices based on price and their attitude to Climate Change and renewable energy.

If you want to explore these ideas further, you will find them referred to on lots of Topics here on the Forum, and in particular this one on Time of Use Tariffs.

I have an SSE smart meter, will it still be able to be used once my switch over to OVO is completed? 

Considering I switched to Ovo for the renewable energy, I wouldn't want my current smart meter to just be binned. 

Hi @Polly_SuperNova - great choice of Forum ID!

No Smart Meter will get “binned”. The earlier SMETS1 types are currently receiving software upgrades and being moved across to the National Smart Meter Network. Any meter on that network can be accessed universally across all Energy Suppliers.

So let’s take this one step at a time:

1: Do you know if your SSE meter is SMETS1 or SMETS2?

2: Roughly when was it installed (nearest month will do).

3: Can you give us the manufacturer and model number of the electricity meter? (Typically this might be “Landis & Gyr, E470”, for example).

If you know how to do so, take a photo of the meter (not the In Home Display) and post it here.

That background info will give us a good starting point to work out what is and isn’t compatible.

I’ve popped your question over to this thread, @Polly_SuperNova - have a look at the above and let us know when you can. 

I got a smart meter fitted when SSE was first rolling them out some years ago. I had a storage heater fitted last year before OVO took over SSE and was in the process of getting switched to an economy 7 tariff and was told by SSE that the smart meter fitted (see pictures) would be ok, would not need another meter fitted, but when I get in touch with OVO Customer service they say I have a single meter and there is nothing they can do. But I have read on the OVO website if you have a Smets 1 meter you can get switched to economy 7. Can someone please help me with this enquiry.

Hi @Enquire and thanks for reaching out about this. 

I can see that Elster smart meter is a first generation (SMETS1) smart meter. However it’s very likely to have all the second generation functionality, as a result of something jargon-sounding called ‘being enrolled onto the DCC. 

So OVO and any other supplier will be able to communicate with your meter. That’s the good news. 

The bad news is that currently the functionality to change a two rate meter and tariff to a one rate meter and tariff doesn’t exist within OVO’s billing platform. It will very soon. 

However, there’s more good news: we can put you on a tariff that charges the same ‘single rate’ tariff prices on both registers. Another bit of jargon for this: P1-P2. So if your preference is to move away from economy-7, we have that workaround: charge both registers at the same rate. 

Our Support team can raise an internal request to make this happen. If you’re on a fixed tariff, the single rate price will be set to the single rates available when you fixed in. If you’re on Simpler, it will just be the latest single rate prices available. 

Make this request to our Support team via web chat and feel free to link to this topic if you needed them to see it!