Energy company contacting me about installing a smart meter - should I agree to this?

[KittenLedWeaning]

My gas and electricity come through the same provider. They've been emailing me for the last six months asking me to agree to an appointment for a smart meter installation. I realise that eventually this might not be optional, but should I avoid it while I can?

I've heard complaints that Smart Meters aren't accurate; can pick up other people's energy use and can be hacked into by would-be burglars as a way of seeing if the house is occupied. On the other hand, I am the sort of person who always worries about energy consumption, secretly turns the heating down etc.

If anyone has experience of a smart meter that they would be prepared to share, I would be really thankful.

Thanks for that 'inside' information, ChickenPie.

When you say the traditional meters will reach the end of their life, do you mean they'll break down; or will it be the case that the energy companies say their own systems are no longer compatible so they can no longer be used?

I'm with one of the big energy companies, so probably not covered by your programme.

^^ Encryption of the data in transit between the smart meter and the DCC is pretty much the only card smart meter installers have to play in terms of security.

Which is fine till the hacker gets the password to your online utility company account or hacks your account at DataCommsCo, as they got passwords or access to online accounts for
Mumsnet www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-27029238/mumsnet-hack-hacker-logged-in-as-me-says-ceo,
British Airways www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-45953237,

data of German politicians www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46757009 ,
TalkTalk www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31656613
Dixons Carphone www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44465331,
Marriott hotels www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-46401890
Uber www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-46357001
Add your own, plenty to choose from. Data theft is new stealing candy from kids.

BTW, the whole point of having the DataCommsCo as a central data storage company is to allow third parties to have access to your usage data. The plan is that you download apps to fiddle with your central heating or sockets or whatever, and the apps ask for permission to access your data.

Obviously apps asking for, or default assuming, permission to access data has never ever gone wrong... Facebook

Once you've built a database, they will come.

@KittenLedWeaning it's the same programme for all suppliers, but the big six do it in house is all. We are an outsourced service. When I say the traditional meter will come to an end, it just means that they are only commissioned to last about 20 years before being replaced. To ensure they remain accurate and safe. They won't replace with another trad meter so eventually all meters will be smart.

@Tianc they cannot access password as they are security encrypted keys. Not passwords.

Eon fitted ours in October. We switched to BG in December. It now doesn't work as a smart meter.

Total waste of time and money (not mine though)
it is your money. all the energy firms are "paying" for customers to have free smart meters by adding the cost onto customers' bills

I just tell them, come and look at my two foot thick walls, try to find a decent mobile signal and give me a guarantee it will work.

The main problem is many first generation "SMETS1" meters stop being smart if you change supplier. The new SMETS2 meters which should prevent this are only just coming to market....only 250k installed in the country so far. There are still some technical challenges with SMETS2 meters and they are not yet fully proven technology. It is still possible to have traditional, non-smart meters installed if your existing one needs replacing for some reason.

More information here: NAO concerns, and here: SMETS2 vs SMETS1

From a consumer perspective there is little benefit to having a SMETS1 meter. If you really want detailed consumption data you can buy a cheap monitor on amazon for that.

However, in the next few years we're going to start seeing changes to the way electricity in particular is paid for. It is likely there will be more time-of-use pricing, and basic versus higher volume charging where you would pay higher rates on "excess" volumes at certain times of day eg to charge an electric car at dinner time. These ideas are the subject of various ongoing industry consultations and Ofgem is keen to ensure there are more flexible tariffs to enable more efficient use of electricity networks, while protecting vulnerable consumers eg not exposing them to higher prices for "basic" needs such as cooking, heating etc.

Smart meters will be necessary for time-of-use pricing to work in the same way that you need a special meter for Economy 7 or similar products.

ChickenPieBumFace you misunderstand. (Possibly because I didn't write very clearly, but you should actually know this.)

Eg Suppose your data, stored by the DataCommsCo, is used by British Gas to display a graph of your half-hourly usage on your British Gas online account page. Now suppose the password to your British Gas online account is stolen. The attacker gets your DataCommsCo data via British Gas.

It doesn't matter that the attacker didn't get the data between the smart meter and the DataCommsCo... because they didn't need to.

There will also be much more sophisticated attacks than that, of course.

Chicken and Navy - are all smart meters being installed in 2019 SMETS2 or are they still using up stocks of the older type?

Other security problems not mitigated by encryption: the smart meters are designed to be remotely reprogrammable.

Introduce malware or just an error in software coming from – or appearing to come from – the supplier, and the smart meter may be controlled by an attacker or bricked.

The Anderson paper has some technical detail but really is a very accessible read.

Kitten the official last day for installing SMETS1 meters was 5 Dec 18 but 12 suppliers including most of the big ones are allowed to keep installing them until 15 Mar 19. SMETS1 prepayment meters can be installed by any supplier until 15 March.

The best thing to do though is to check with your supplier before agreeing to an installation, although personally I'd wait until a few million SMETS2 meters have been deployed and shown to work properly.

Thanks, navy. Having read the information on this thread, I don't think I'll agree to a smart meter until I have to!

If you want to monitor your usage the clip on type monitors are available to borrow for free from some libraries too.

More EMS..smog
No thanks like a pp
I know what I need and use what I need
Having a meter won’t make me save any money

I've tried and tried to get scottish power to give me a smart meter... nothing. So I've given up. I'm the opposite to you OP... I want one.

These meters give your energy supplier the ability to control your energy supply remotely. Bugger people hacking into it, I don't trust these companies not to turn it off.

This week the energy supplier we use at work wanted to take £750 for a monthly Direct Debit that should have been £40. They weren't at all apologetic when my boss called them up, even when he pointed out it's more than our whole year's consumption.

The person he spoke to said it was caused by their new computer programme, so it wasn't their fault. He pointed out that they are responsible for the software they purchase.

I won't get a smart meter until they force me to, they can't be trusted.