[wraymond]

Smart Meters.

Your point of view depends on your version of Smart. Gone are the meter readers and the huge wages bill for the energy suppliers.

So the need for the householder to lie prone across the hallway to screw their eyes up to read the numbers at floor level which some genius decided was the most convenient and accessible place to put it, in a place where every electrical cable in the house terminates, has no independent lighting, is about two foot square with a pair of step ladders and a Hoover and five coats hanging and has a master Off switch sticking out proud and waiting... So, ancient elbows and knobbly knees take a bashing. And the likelihood of clumsy Hoover users risking gas leaks when replacing tool in cupboard is ever present.

Then, following the destruction of the Boards on every High Street which were so convenient, the business ended up on line with no humans who could be understood when problems arose, the industry became 100 industries with 200 tariffs, and frequently went awol when needed. ‘Tariffs’ went from continuous to annual and grew in costs on the same basis.

Following destruction of manufacturing industry and the rebirth of unemployment growth, arrears became a problem. So some of those vulnerable meters, getting mysterious extra jump leads fitted by skint householders, became pre-pay on, of course, a non-credit basis and in advance. All was in the interests of competition of course.

Then the competition element was elbowed out in the favour of monopoly interests and the way was paved for Smart meters! Then the crude phoney advertising crept in. You could control your consumption by turning stuff Off! Like nobody knew that! So it was Power Saving (for the planet) and Price Saving (for the overdraft)! Er, no, it wasn’t. It was so the providers could cut costs and allegedly be competitive again. Er, no, that didn’t happen either.

Then there came the instant switch. You could transfer your account to another supplier with no fuss after a brief search and reap impressive savings, so increasing competitive pricing.

No again. All the suppliers have now been corralled into the ultimate aim, that of limiting choice again. You can now save hundreds of pounds if you switch rather than the relatively small amounts available before. Surprisingly, these big savings are only available if you install a smart meter! Smart? Yes, very.

Yes, you can adjust your costs by seeing how much you are using by then turning the TV, kettle, lights and heating and so many other essentials off. But the meter doesn’t do that. At least, not at the moment it doesn’t. You do it yourself.

So the Smart meter is smart? Yes indeed it is, too smart by half.

ps: the best job to get into these days? Tree feller. In readiness for the surge in sales of new age log-burners.