Octopus has created essentially the most revolutionary good propositions within the UK vitality market. Nonetheless, a few of our early clients are held again by the good meter transition and a few at present get a poor expertise of the good meter set up.
Right here’s the background, standing and what we’re doing about it.
Octopus’s innovation
The good grid will likely be essential for our society to maneuver to greener vitality affordably. In contrast to different vitality firms who hire programs from third events, or who’ve legacy programs which they’ve did not replace, Octopus has engineered a very new system during the last couple of years which is designed particularly to ship the good grid.
It permits us to have tariffs which fluctuate each half hour, so clients can profit by utilizing low cost electrical energy when the solar shines, the wind blows and the grid is “quiet” (sometimes low cost 21 hours a day), tariffs which offer 4 hours an evening of tremendous low cost electrical energy for electrical automobile homeowners to cost their batteries, and we’re thus far the one firm to pay buyer for extra photo voltaic technology or “battery export” on a half hourly metered foundation – enabling households to face alongside “industrial” technology within the vitality system.
Our platform is the work of a crew of unbelievable know-how specialists right here within the UK, and has now been chosen by the world’s main photo voltaic cell producer for his or her launch of an vitality provider in Australia.
Octopus’s customer support
Octopus is famend for wonderful customer support. No firm is ideal, however we take pleasure in excessive / high rankings in virtually all tables and surveys. I personally lead from the entrance, answering 20-40 buyer emails per day (each buyer will get my e-mail tackle) and interesting on twitter with each completely satisfied and sad clients.
Service points with good meters
Our revolutionary tariffs require good meters – so not like different vitality firms who usually face the problem of persuading clients to take good meters, we’ve some clients who’re extremely motivated to get a wise meter to begin utilizing these tariffs to save cash – particularly electrical automobile drivers.
While our good meter set up success degree is about the identical because the vitality business common – it’s decrease than our normal excessive service requirements. Not solely that, however after we fail we’re letting down clients who’ve larger expectations and who actually need the meter.
I – and our crew – hate this and are working very onerous to enhance it.
Causes of points
Octopus has about the identical success price with meters as different suppliers – however that’s not adequate.
Every little thing right here needs to be seen within the context of the good meter rollout. It’s an enormous, phenomenally formidable authorities programme – and has been spectacular so far – with about 25% of all houses now having a wise meter.
The overwhelming majority of the meters put in so far are “model 1” – often known as SMETS1 meters. They have been launched as a stop-gap know-how to allow the good meter rollout to proceed within the interval earlier than the federal government’s central good meter operator (DCC) was prepared. Nonetheless, these are completely good meters – their solely actual failing from a buyer pov is that they don’t at all times keep good once you swap to a different provider – though over the subsequent yr or so they may achieve this functionality (all of the meters put in ought to achieve it routinely with no engineer go to, and so on).
DCC is now up and working and the federal government need all new good meters to be SMETS2, so vitality firms at the moment are having to put in SMETS2 meters.
As soon as the transition is full, SMETS2 needs to be as simple and dependable as SMETS1.
However the transition is just not simple, so we’ve a brief interval when service is tough to take care of. I give some element on this under in the event you’re .
Throughout the transition interval there are numerous potential failure factors. For instance, if we anticipate an engineer to suit 4 meters in a day, however the first one takes a very long time to fee (one of many key points with SMETS2 at present), the others might not occur that day. If on someday, it seems to be like we’re reaching dependable connections to DCC, however then they subsequently look like not working we might must pause additional installs till points are mounted. Contractors could also be in brief provide as a result of they’d been stood down throughout the post-SMETS1 section.
All which means we’re much less capable of give dependable appointments and repair than normal.
We have been beforehand putting in maybe 1000 SMETS1 good meters per week more and more easily. And though the “the same old” wasn’t adequate we’d been working onerous to repeatedly enhance it – and it wasn’t unhealthy – though too usually, contractors have failed to show up with out calling to let . However with the crew scrambling to work with SMETS2 points, they’ve not been capable of make sufficient progress on these fundamental set up points both.
That every one means we’ve at present received a lot decrease volumes of meters to put in, with much less predictability.
So we’ve put numerous effort into bypassing the same old programs for purchasers who desire a meter early for our revolutionary tariffs (or different pressing causes). Nonetheless, this implies we’re working on the ragged edge – attempting to rearrange an set up as quickly as it could be doable – which suggests there’s the next likelihood of points. And once you bypass normal processes you inevitably get extra issues – for instance, our system might not at all times “know” what one in all our crew have organized for a buyer.
It’s a basic dilemma in enterprise – do you no matter it takes to carry one thing to a buyer, or rigidly stick with the method?
We’ve chosen to work onerous to get meters to essentially the most “engaged” clients as quickly as possible, with the chance that it could go mistaken. We attempt to be clear about this always – and from me publishing my e-mail, to our metering director giving his cell quantity to affected clients, I hope we get the stability proper and we will all share within the course of.
What else we’re doing
Apart from SMETS2 transition points, I’ve been open that we aren’t at all times proud of the service we get from conventional installers (utilized by most of our rivals too) – so we’ve arrange our personal. It’ll take some time to rise up to hurry however our first 9 vans are already in service…
We’re doing this in order that we will carry the right Octopus expertise to the job of meter set up in addition to vitality provide.
What it’s best to do
For those who’re after one in all our good tariffs – simply tell us. We’ll add you to a VIP listing and prioritise you for an early set up. We’ll study from previous errors to make sure we keep in contact all through, but in addition we’d be delighted in the event you might tell us in the event you’re fearful about an engineer failing to show up or in the event that they cancel on the final minute (the contractors ought to keep in contact, however regardless of all our efforts we all know that generally they fail to take action – however the faster we all know the faster we will escalate to their managers and repair it).
We’ll set up the very best meter we will for you – so it’ll be a SMETS2 if that’s applicable or suggest a SMETS1 if that’ll be higher. If it’s a SMETS1 it received’t depend in direction of our authorities rollout targets, however we simply want to provide clients the very best expertise and repair and can prioritise that from right here.
In any other case, we’re making good progress on getting the SMETS2 scale rollout up and working and will likely be in contact with you after we know we will set up a meter for you thru the usual, smoother processes.
Some further particulars on SMETS1/SMETS2 transition
Notice: we assist all the federal government is doing right here – they’re forcing the tempo of good meters – and as all of us noticed with SMETS1, ultimately we will get good meters in actually excessive numbers of households rapidly. The one factor we’d do completely different is to proceed to advertise SMETS1 the place a SMETS2 wasn’t installable in order that we might keep tempo of rollout and reliability.
- It wasn’t doable to correctly plan for SMETS2. We (and all suppliers) are dependent upon DCC – a monopoly service we have to join with. There have been a number of delays in its go reside, so suppliers needed to be “on standby” reasonably than be totally deliberate.
- Connecting with DCC has been difficult for early suppliers. While DCC is fastidiously specified, it’s a really advanced ecosystem. Related to a meter is a comms hub. there are two comms hubs (one for “the North” and one for “the South” as there are completely different networks in every), the comms hubs discuss to DCC who discuss to a “connector” (one other firm) which then talks to a provider. There are dozens (possibly tons of) of “messages” every of which must get by this infrastructure. There’s numerous safety which suggests we don’t get the types of diagnostics you’d get in most programs – so issues both work or they don’t, and fixing issues could be very a lot “trial and error”. Each vitality provider has a unique mixture of meter producer, connector, software program system, installer, and so on. so there aren’t any “proper solutions”.
- The comms networks are very very delicate. Issues which work in a lab might not work in houses, and lots of meters produce “electrical noise”. This electrical noise can swamp the alerts from the good meters, so many early SMETS2 meters have been principally not usable and even some that are usable are “non-compliant”. Some had “derogations” permitting them for use, others didn’t. Throughout this course of, a number of the meter producers who’d seemed like they’d be prepared first ended up in the back of the queue. Nonetheless, by the point these kinds of points turned obvious suppliers had already positioned orders with producers, and people which got derogations – or have been deemed compliant – had very lengthy lead occasions as they have been in sizzling demand as the one usable meters.
- The federal government recognised many of those points, so allowed suppliers longer to maintain putting in SMETS1. At one level, the SMETS1 closing date was October 2018, after which prolonged to December 2018 and a few suppliers got “derogations” to March 2019 – though these derogations have been based mostly on historic set up charges which principally dominated out fast-growing challengers like Octopus.
- This has been a studying course of for the entire system – with the whole lot revolving round DCC, they first needed to study numerous the problems, after which meter producers, suppliers and installers.
- Meters are owned by MAPs – basically firms who fund their buy and set up on behalf of suppliers.
- With all of the uncertainty, MAPs, installers and others have struggled to be assured. Within the case of MAPs they’ve been hesitant to again SMETS1 as a fallback, and every has relationships with particular SMETS2 producers. Installers have usually assigned engineers to different duties and even stood them down as a result of they’ve had no meters to put in, in order we begin ramping up SMETS2 there are resourcing challenges in addition to all of the technical ones, and may imply that rafts of appointments have to be rearranged or cancelled, generally at quick discover.
