We plan to install an air source heat pump, EV car charger and solar PV panels in our new house. We therefore need a polyphase smart meter to be fitted by our supplier, E.ON, to handle the extra electrical load. We requested this five months ago and were given a 60-day processing time. On the 59th day, E.ON’s subcontractor claimed, untruthfully, that it had arrived to find no one in. E.ON told me I would have to start the 60-day process again. In the meantime, I asked EDF to install a polyphase meter at our business premises, but the engineer who turned up said they didn’t have the capability. If heat pumps are the future, it seems there won’t be the capacity to scratch the surface of the country’s requirements.
DW, Camelford
In June, the National Audit Office found that a shortage of installation technicians was impeding the government’s introduction of smart meters, which was supposed to have been completed in 2019. This month E.ON was one of six suppliers fined almost £11m for missing installation targets last year. E.ON denied there was a lack of technicians. It said: “The original appointment failed because of a scheduling error which meant the wrong technician was sent out.”
This is a different explanation to the one you were given. It has now installed a meter, which has yet to function smartly, and paid £60 compensation.
EDF also denied there was a shortage of technicians and, intriguingly, offered a similar excuse. “EDF was unable to carry out the installation because the appointment had been booked incorrectly. A polyphase meter requires an operative with higher skill level,” it said. You now have a new appointment.
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