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Old November 13th, 2022 #81
PostCardFromOldham
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Rishi Sunak is urged to get tough on China by ripping out hundreds of thousands of smart meters which could allegedly be used to shut down the UK's power supplies
Rishi Sunak has been urged to halting the installation of Chinese smart meters
Tory ministers warned the PM against allowing devices linked to China in homes
Sir Iain Duncan Smith raised the prospect of China shutting down energy acess
By BRENDAN CARLIN POLITICAL REPORTER FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 23:22, 12 November 2022 | UPDATED: 02:34, 13 November 2022


Rishi Sunak is facing calls to get tougher with China by potentially ripping out hundreds of thousands of ‘Chinese smart meters’ which could be allegedly used to shut down UK power supplies.

On the eve of the G20 summit in Indonesia, the Prime Minister was urged to remind fellow world leaders of the ‘enormous threat’ posed by Beijing’s desire to infiltrate other countries’ infrastructure.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said that although the gathering would rightly focus on Ukraine’s struggle, Mr Sunak should not miss the chance to warn allies of the dangers China poses.

And Sir Iain called on the PM to take immediate action at home by halting the installation in UK houses of smart meters made by a firm linked to the Chinese state.


The Prime Minister has been urged to take immediate action by halting the installation in UK houses of smart meters made by a firm linked to the Chinese state

He raised the ‘nightmare’ prospect of the Chinese state shutting down power to hundreds of thousands of households through access to the meter’s remote power switch.

Sir Iain, one of five British MPs singled out for sanctions by Beijing last year, told The Mail on Sunday that the PM should first halt the installation of the meters, made by Kaifa Technology UK, and then potentially replace the ones already installed. He said ‘all smart meters feature a switch that can be used to remotely turn off power’, which in the wrong hands ‘could be abused to inflict mass blackouts and damage the National Grid’.

His call came after the Daily Mail revealed last month that 250,000 meters supplied by Kaifa, controlled by a subsidiary of the state-owned China Electronics Corporation, were already in UK homes.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art....html#comments
 
Old November 23rd, 2022 #82
PostCardFromOldham
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How homes with smart meters are being plunged into darkness - by REMOTE CONTROL
Privacy war breaks out as suppliers move customers onto PAYG plans remotely
Move puts them at risk of blackouts if they cannot afford to top-up their balance
Households are being left in the dark and without heating for weeks at a time
Firms accused of pushing smart meters to make it easier to disconnect homes
Some 500 customers believed to have been put on prepayment plans this year
By HELENA KELLY FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 21:50, 22 November 2022 | UPDATED: 21:50, 22 November 2022


Lisa Bonner was getting ready for the school run on a crisp morning two months ago when an email from her energy supplier popped up on her phone.

The message sent her into a panic. EDF was writing to inform her that the supply to her three-bedroom semi had been switched to a so-called prepayment meter.

That meant from then on, the mother of three and her husband Nick, 51, would have to keep their account topped-up at all times — or their power might be cut off suddenly.


Threat: The widespread adoption of smart meters means companies no longer have to come face-to-face with the people they are cutting off

Not only that, but their bills were likely to be even higher because the pay-as-you-go prepayment tariff would be pricier than their old one.

The worst part? The 45-year-old, who is undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, hadn’t given EDF her permission for the switch.

The firm was able to take matters into its own hands because Lisa had agreed to install a smart meter in her home six months previously.

Thanks to the high-tech devices — which show your energy usage in real time and send meter readings automatically to suppliers — energy firms can switch customers on to different tariffs remotely.

And, crucially, if a household does not pay, gets into debt or fails to pay bills on time, the supplier can use a smart meter to turn off their power. All it takes is the click of a button in an office hundreds of miles away.




By the end of this winter, consumer charity Citizens Advice estimates 180,000 households will have been switched to prepayment plans via their smart meter.

Suppliers say they are doing this to stop families running up large debts. The average dual-fuel energy bill has risen to £2,500 a year — or more than £200 a month — and many families are expected to struggle to keep up payments.

While moving customers to prepayment meters could help them manage their outgoings, it will also make homes vulnerable to being cut off.

In simple terms, that means the risk of blackouts if they cannot afford to top-up their account balance regularly.

In the industry, switching customers onto prepayment plans is confusingly referred to as ‘self-disconnection’.

Citizens Advice says it has heard from 500 people who have been pushed onto prepayment meters this year — a 158 per cent rise on the same period in 2021.

In one case, a single mother with a young baby was moved remotely onto a prepayment plan while on maternity leave.

It meant she could not even boil the kettle to make bottles for her child and spent the night in the dark.


Hidden agenda: Providers are now being accused of pushing smart meters onto homes as it makes it easier to disconnect them

Some households have already been left without lights and heating for weeks at a time, according to regulator Ofgem.

An Ofgem spokesman says: ‘In extreme cases the reports we’ve received suggest this has led to some vulnerable customers being left without power for days or even weeks. This is completely unacceptable.’

Prepayment energy plans mean that customers have to top up their accounts themselves when their balance runs low.

With a smart meter, this is online via an app. Or households can use a prepayment keycard which can be topped up in post offices and PayPoint zones, often located in newsagents. The tariffs are more expensive, too.

Prepayment customers will spend an estimated £258 more on their energy this winter than someone paying by direct debit, according to research from Citizens Advice.

In the past, suppliers had to send staff round to a customer’s house if they were in debt and the company wanted to change their payment plan.

But the widespread adoption of smart meters means firms no longer have to come face-to-face with the people that they are cutting off.

Firms typically try to move customers to prepayment plans only once they have fallen into debt on their accounts set up with a direct debit, and the supplier is struggling to get payment.

However, rules set by Ofgem stipulate households must consent to the switch.

Lisa says that she had fallen into around £300 of debt on her energy account.

About a month before the switch to a prepayment meter, EDF cancelled her direct debit.

Although Lisa — whose children Fiona, seven, Madison, ten, and 12-year-old India all live at the family home — says she never consented to the change, EDF insists it sent her a warning letter about moving the account to a prepayment tariff.

‘I couldn’t believe EDF was able to switch my account without my consent,’ she says.

‘I don’t know if we’ll be able to put the heating on now.’


Bigger bills: Prepayment customers will spend an estimated £258 more on their energy this winter than someone paying by direct debit, according to Citizens Advice

Earlier this month Ofgem wrote to suppliers warning that it had heard of ‘alarming’ cases where customers were not being consulted over these switches.

Ofgem would not say how it would be taking action against firms breaking its rules.

Lisa’s cancer diagnosis should have flagged her up as being a ‘vulnerable’ customer — meaning more protections should have been in place before a supplier shut off the power to her house.

EDF says it was unaware of Lisa’s illness, and insists her account was moved only as a last resort.

It notified her in August that her direct debit was being cancelled and says it sent several emails telling her how she could access support.

The company says it first sent a letter explaining its intention to push her onto a prepayment plan and she had a week to respond — which she failed to do.

She then had a further 14-day ‘non-disconnection’ period during which she could query her new plan.

But Lisa insists she had tried to call EDF to discuss her options before the company disconnected her.

EDF accepts a call took place but says a resolution was not found at the time.

She says: ‘I have three girls, I’m now in a position where we might not be able to put the heating on.

‘If it gets to the last week of the month and we’re running low, I might not have a spare £10 to top the meter up.’

Some 29.5 million smart meters have been fitted in homes and small businesses across Britain.

They were sold to customers as a way to ensure that their bills were accurate by recording households’ energy usage in real time.

No mention has ever been made in publicity for the meters, that they can be used to cut families’ gas and electricity off remotely.


Data expert Nick Hunn, who runs technology consultancy WiFore, says that the situation is very worrying for consumers.

He adds: ‘Smart meters effectively give suppliers a button they can press to disconnect customers without having to send anybody round.

‘If I was ever in a situation where I might not be able to afford my energy bills I would not touch a smart meter with a barge pole.

‘When smart meters first started to be rolled out, the idea they could remotely disconnect households was always on suppliers’ minds.’

A Smart Energy GB spokesman says: ‘Suppliers should be following strict rules set by Ofgem, including offering ways to help customers repay money they owe.

‘And they can only switch a meter to prepay mode where it is safe to do so.

‘These rules apply whatever kind of meter you have.’

According to Ofgem rules, a supplier can only move you onto a prepayment meter as a last resort if your account has unpaid debt. However, it must write to you explaining that you have 28 days in which to pay off the arrears.

After that, it is able to write to you informing you that you are being moved to a prepayment meter.

But they must give seven days’ formal notice for a gas meter and seven working days’ notice for an electric one.

Suppliers cannot, however, force vulnerable customers — for example, those over the state pension age or those with children under five — to have a prepayment meter installed.

Once the debt has been repaid, customers can ask their energy supplier to be moved back onto a direct-debit account.


https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...220.1619501069
 
Old November 25th, 2022 #83
PostCardFromOldham
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Lorry driver moves out of freezing flat to live in his van after being left in cold by Ovo Energy over smart meter payments
Darryl Moore, 32, handed in his notice for his flat of five years in Upton, Dorset
He blames a fault in his pay-as-you-go meter that was fitted in 2020
He claims his freezing flat means he cannot see his eight-month-old daughter
But Darryl says he'd rather stay in his van than his flat which he 'couldn't heat'
He was given a £50 top-up code for his meter that put the heating back on - but says that no engineer has visited
By GINA KALSI FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 10:27, 24 November 2022 | UPDATED: 11:47, 24 November 2022

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...vo-Energy.html
 
Old November 25th, 2022 #84
Ray Allan
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@PostCard,

No doubt all the shitskin criminal invaders and rapists you and chris c post about in the grooming thread get government-subsidized payments for these dumb meters. Only Whites get kicked out of their homes or freeze to death.
__________________
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy."

--Henry A. Kissinger, jewish politician and advisor

Last edited by Ray Allan; November 25th, 2022 at 07:29 AM.
 
Old December 7th, 2022 #85
PostCardFromOldham
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Smart meter privacy row breaks out as energy companies share bills support scheme data with Government
By HELENA KELLY FOR THE DAILY MAIL

PUBLISHED: 21:51, 6 December 2022 | UPDATED: 22:20, 6 December 2022


A privacy row has broken out over the energy bills support package after it emerged data from household meters is being shared with the Government.

Ministers quietly announced in October it would begin collecting and processing personal information from people’s smart and traditional meters.

Experts say it sets a ‘dangerous precedent’ and will affect smart meter customers more because their devices contain more sensitive data.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...220.1619501069
 
Old January 8th, 2023 #86
PostCardFromOldham
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Around 4,000 are hit by smart meter defect which left them unable to see how much they had spent and must wait months for them to be fixed
Faulty displays mean customers are unable to see how much they have spent
British Gas said the problem has impacted around 4,000 of its customers
Consumers across different suppliers have complained of incorrect readings
By LUKE BARR FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 01:30, 8 January 2023 | UPDATED: 01:50, 8 January 2023


Thousands of British Gas customers must wait months for defective smart meters to be fixed, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The devices automatically send suppliers meter readings and allow households to track their gas and electricity usage.

But faulty displays mean customers are unable to see how much they have spent.

British Gas, Britain's biggest energy firm, said the problem had affected about 4,000 of its customers, adding that the units were unlikely to be mended until June.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ble-spent.html
 
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