LAURENCEAUX: Smart Meters - I tried to warn you

For years I have been pestered by E.ON,, who are persistent in their assertion that they "must" replace my electricity meter (new five years ago). They "must" install a "smart meter" in order to offer many advantages to myself.

I DO NOT WANT A SMART METER,

NOR CAN THEY FORCE ME TO HAVE ONE!

Their assertion that they "must" do anything more than supply and bill me for electricity is false. At best their "must" could be, "we would like to", or "we are being pressured by government to", but "must"? I don't think so. Consumers cannot legally be forced onto a smart meter, even though they have probably already paid for it in some form of prior green levy.

Let me explain:

A smart meter will tell me how much electricity I am using and may thus induce me to reduce my consumption and related bill, but it will not. I will not reduce their exposure to my possible indebtedness for I refuse to be a frozen, meek pensioner, stressed-out and intimidated daily by its "helpful" information. They will never tell me the reason courts may come knocking is because I "chose" to ignore the advice of a damned smart meter. No way - if I'm freezing my arse off the electric heating goes on.

A smart meter accurately records and transmits consumption to them each half hour, for no advantage to myself in any way; and whilst I am happy for E.ON to send me accurate bills based on monthly meter readings that I supply and pay online, at no cost to them, I do not want to host technology that facilitates an ability to vary the cost of my electricity, on a half hourly basis, during periods of high national demand (for instance), nor do I want "encouraging" to consume, or charge and tax my car, outside of "peak times" (Or pay more for the privilege). Update 2023: I wrote the paragraph above in 2018 and it has come to pass in 2023. With sufficient smart meters in use suppliers are confident enough to test their ideas by offering discounts to users taking power in "off-peak" times. This is merely to test their ability to bill for dynamic variation(s) of the electricity price. Believe me, once established the true intent will be revealed; that electricity used at peak demand via a smart meter will be charged automatically at a higher rate, in order to give evermore profit and to smooth power demand in order to mask the deficiencies in the UK's power generation and supply network. You were warned! and this is what the industry is doing. Update 2024: Finally "they" reveal their hand and the motive(s) behind the drive for smart meters: more control and more profit by charging different amounts for electricity according to circumstances beyond the control of millions of (poor) subscribers, or those who have bought electric vehicles..

A side-issue with smart meters is their ability to be remotely changed into pre-payment mode, meaning you suddenly become "a valued customer" who is deemed poor because you missed a bill payment by more than 15 days (perhaps because your insurer doubled your pending motor insurance and yet you still have to feed the kids!); the real kicker is that pre-paid electricity costs you more and what the supplier has really done is make even more profits from "poor" customers. Without a smart meter this would not happen as readily, so no smart meter for me thank you.

I do not blame electrical vendors wanting more profit in return for not embarrassing politicians, whose inability to enforce national strategic capacity planning is about to be exposed, (as national power generation is nearly incapable of satisfying peak demand), but I simply do not want to be billed every half hour on a Variable Tariff Rate, nor be bullied into changing my consumption patterns; or worse still have a pre-payment only mode downloaded into my meter which will make the same electricity as anyone else cost me more.

Furthermore, I will not want a meter I "must" have, that can automatically cut me off, or tax me on the amount of power my electric car tells any smart meter it has taken, nor be "hacked" at some time in the future, as most other "Internet of things" seems to suffer these days; when some hacker works out how to tell all metres to shut down, mine will not be one of them.

No thanks E.ON; keep you smart meter, or I will switch to another supplier (not possible by 2023 as any move now stipulate a smart meter is require), something I know will not be trouble free, because their billing systems will not understand the transmissions from an E.ON "smart meter".