Are Smart meters a Scam ?????

[maxhr54]

Ok i had this letter from AGL kindly offering to install a ' smart electricity meter' for ' free'.

But ....it seems 'smart meters' are now contentious and a way to charge you more, and change your charges with no notification.

 

it just appears on your bill.

 

so, googling, it appears if your current meter is not broken, you can refuse this 'kindly offer/scam' by opting out.

 

so am i just another crazy conspiracy theorist....or ....or .....are smart meters a rort to boost the profits of 'them' ?????

 

😐😎...

[nomadpete]

Smart meters are not the problem.

The problem arises when retailers start using a smart meter to change your billing tarrifs.

 

I have heard that some retailers are failing to notify consumers when implementing complicated time-of-day changes of charge rates.

 

If that happens, it is important to find out the new billing rules that they are applying.

 

With care, you can use these rules to cut your bills, by cutting down your energy use during peak time. These times are in the fine print. Otherwise, your bill might go up!

 

Also, a call to your provider might give you options to opt out of time-of-day billing if you prefer flat rate charging.

 

[octave]

I like the information smart meters provide.  I can see in 30-minute increments what is happening. Here is a random day Yellow is solar and orange is power used

 

 

 

 

or displayed as money in (solar) and money out (power I take from the grid)

 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 09:40 AM by octave

[red750]

I enjoy a benefit of my smart meter with AGL. I can log on to my AGL account at any time, see my usage, and how my bill is progressing. I get an estimate of what my next bill will be and how many days to go. I can make small progress payments along the way, so when the bill actually issues, I have zero or a small nominal amout to pay. No bill shock.

[Marty_d]

Isn't the point of smart meters, if you have a battery, that you can set them up to export power to the grid when demand is high (so you get paid more) and draw from the grid when it's cheap?

[spacesailor]

I have only known of Negative reports , of ' smart meters ' , 

Often the following year your bill is higher . 

spacesailor

[octave]

14 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

I have only known of Negative reports , of ' smart meters ' , 

Often the following year your bill is higher . 

spacesailor

 There are a lot of tin foil hat conspiracy theories out there

[onetrack]

Power costs go up every year, regardless of where you live, so that might account for the "higher bill in the following year".

[Siso]

It would be nice if you didn't need to be a lawyer or economist to get cheap affordable electricity. It is a necessity, not just a nice to have. Not everyone can or wants to decipher data, especially it seems if you are more of a hands-on type person.

[old man emu]

8 hours ago, onetrack said:

Power costs go up every year, regardless of where you live

Aren't we generating lots of "free energy" from the sunshine and wind? Surely that should at least keep energy prices stable year to year.

[Siso]

It's cheaper remember, about $275 a year.

[spacesailor]

This morning .

On TV , a report on 'smart metres ' , putting new ( accounts ( plans ) ) . with exceptionally high tariffs. 

You then have to apply for a different plan . To lower your cost .

sounds easy , but they don't want that .

spacesailor

[pmccarthy]

My weight has a lot of useless kilograms so perhaps my height makes up for it in smart metres.

[octave]

5 hours ago, Siso said:

It would be nice if you didn't need to be a lawyer or economist to get cheap affordable electricity.

 

There are plenty of options out there.  My bills are extremely cheap and I am not a lawyer or economist.  For a start for those in Victoria, there is this site  https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au/    When we did this we were paid $250 just for uploading a bill which they compared to other retailers. As we already knew we were on a good deal anyway. We did this 2 years in a row so we scored $500 over 2 years. If people think that sounds unbelievable $250 Power Saving Bonus Program I think this scheme may have finished now but there are similar schemes running.  In addition, I seem to get a $ 75-a-quarter credit on my electricity account from the Vic government. My electricity bill before applying these rebates is about $650 a year (all electric - no gas)  By using the monitoring software from my retailer and also the app for my solar system I have been able to tweak my usage. It is not that I am continually monitoring my power system but early on I learnt how to use power more wisely.  We run a dishwasher once a day however we used to put it on in the evening. Now we put it on around midday when it usually would be entirely powered by solar.  Hot water only comes on in the afternoon and is likewise powered mostly by solar. It is not really rocket science and actually, I find it enjoyable.   With effort comes reward.

[facthunter]

I've had them since they first came out. Get a supplier you can TRUST. That's the best move you can make. Used the right way they can do things that are good for the system. and the users. (cost wise) . Nev

[onetrack]

The "free energy" from the sun and wind is not free, the huge costs of installing solar arrays and wind turbines has to come out of it, and those Danish turbine manufacturers don't exactly give their turbines away.

[Siso]

49 minutes ago, octave said:

 

There are plenty of options out there.  My bills are extremely cheap and I am not a lawyer or economist.  For a start for those in Victoria, there is this site  https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au/    When we did this we were paid $250 just for uploading a bill which they compared to other retailers. As we already knew we were on a good deal anyway. We did this 2 years in a row so we scored $500 over 2 years. If people think that sounds unbelievable $250 Power Saving Bonus Program I think this scheme may have finished now but there are similar schemes running.  In addition, I seem to get a $ 75-a-quarter credit on my electricity account from the Vic government. My electricity bill before applying these rebates is about $650 a year (all electric - no gas)  By using the monitoring software from my retailer and also the app for my solar system I have been able to tweak my usage. It is not that I am continually monitoring my power system but early on I learnt how to use power more wisely.  We run a dishwasher once a day however we used to put it on in the evening. Now we put it on around midday when it usually would be entirely powered by solar.  Hot water only comes on in the afternoon and is likewise powered mostly by solar. It is not really rocket science and actually, I find it enjoyable.   With effort comes reward.

I was being a bit tongue in cheek regarding the whole economist and a lawyer thing but even what you have gone through should not be necessary. It is a necessity and not all people are that computer illiterate. If I need to look at a page on the internet I start thinking about other stuff. It is a joke! The lesser educated people are the ones that are going to suffer the most. A lot of people aren't home to use there solar if they have it.

[octave]

7 minutes ago, Siso said:

If I need to look at a page on the internet I start thinking about other stuff. It is a joke!

 

This is not particularly new.  When you buy a car you don't just point and say "I'll have the blue one"  Most people will look at reviews ask friends etc. I think in the past the price of electricity was pretty standard all round.  Yes now it is not so straight forward but you can save heaps if you really want to.  My elderly mother used to enlist my help to get a good deal. When I first moved to Vic in 2011 (after 21 years living off grid) my first electricity bill was over $600 for 3 months (I think around $580 with the paying it on time discount). Now my bill for a whole year is a bit over $600.  Each to his own but I know I would rather spend my dollars on things other than power.

17 minutes ago, Siso said:

A lot of people aren't home to use there solar if they have it.

Yep I acknowledge this. Increasingly batteries will ease this. This power is not totally wasted with the albeit small these days feed-in tariff.  We load the dishwasher in the morning and if we are going out we press the "start delay" button. The hot water comes on in the afternoon. 

[spacesailor]

This morning .

When the supplier ' ups ' their prices by putting you ( without informing you ). Onto a plan that  has exceptionally high tariffs. 

How long , before you twig their scheme to rip you off .

You ' then ' have to apply for a different plan . To lower your cost .

All suppliers should  have the cents per KW H . In a prominent position on ' your ' statement  .

spacesailor

PS.  :  Don't forget , you don't get a ' paper ' receipt to browse. 

 

Edited yesterday at 05:29 AM by spacesailor
PS added

[octave]

12 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

PS.  :  Don't forget , you don't get a ' paper ' receipt to browse. 

This is the beauty of the smart meter and app. I can see what I am being charged for each 30-minute increment.  I can also go back through my whole history with them and see what I was charged 4 years ago on a particular day or even half. I also have a graph that compares this year with the same time last year or a particular day. An increase in charge would be obvious. My retailer is a quite straight forward price structure.

[spacesailor]

My daughter is not connected to the internet. 

but  is still on a " smart metre " in her " state " house .

Was on telstra internet .  But disconnected for NBN that was not put to the ' estate '  .

She occasionally checks it , using my computer. 

But , yes , very high tariffs for the ' houseo's ' .

spacesailor

[facthunter]

YOU are going to have to PAY for my Anti depressants. Nev

[Siso]

You don't get a bill every 3 months for your car. Once you have a car you don't need to worry about it again until you buy another car.  Nothing like buying a car really!

 

I have better things to do then look at previous bills as with pretty well everyone else I know.

Edited yesterday at 09:07 AM by Siso

[octave]

1 minute ago, Siso said:

You don't get a bill every 3 months for your car. Once you have a car you don't need to worry about it again until you buy another car.  Nothing like buying a car really!

The point is the poster was complaining about having to research a product which they thought was too difficult and that they should not have to do that.  Whether it is banking services or electricity or buying a house or any goods or services the bottom line is you have to do your homework.   I did my homework. 

[red750]

Like Kochy keeps telling us, "Compare The Market."