Are we too worried about smart meters - or is surge pricing looming?

This is Money Podcast

This is Money

Business News, Business, Investing, News

4.1 • 650 Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2022

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Where do you stand on smart meters? This seemingly common sense technological advance in how we are billed for energy has proved hugely divisive.

From concerns over security and surveillance, to a mistrust of energy companies, and a botched and sometimes accused of bullying rollout, smart meters have not proved the popular success it was hoped they would be.

Now things have stepped up a gear, as an Ofgem change will lead to smart meters being able to send half hour updates to energy providers - opening the door for electricity pricing to change at different times of day.

The idea is that this will help smooth usage and make the transition to green energy easier and cheaper, while saving customers money.

That makes sense, why not charge your electric car or run the tumble drier when demand is low and so are prices?

But it also creates the potential for a troubling scenario for many, where energy pricing is used to change our behaviour.

Meanwhile, people also question whether private companies that sell us power are likely to give up profits and allow our energy bills to get cheaper overall.

On this week’s podcast, Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Simon Lambert look at the latest smart meter controversy and whether we are overthinking this.

Also on this week’s podcast, there’s some number crunching on what people need to do to combat inflation’s effect on their spending, income and wealth.

The team discuss the weird world of rising second hand car prices and used cars worth more than new ones.

And finally, friend of This is Money, Dave Fishwick – of Bank of Dave fame – is going to be the subject of a movie. Lee updates on what Dave told him about that earlier this week.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to This Is Money podcast. I'm Georgie. For us, and joining me and editor Simon Labber today is
0:05.8	Deputy Editor Leiboyce. And coming up, the energy overhaul. Is Uber-style smart meter pricing for
0:12.0	our bills the way to a greener, cheaper future, or is it all just a bit creepy? Simon tackles
0:17.4	what you need to do to beat rising inflation with rates so low, can you invest
0:21.6	your way to a house deposit? Plus the secondhand cars that have risen the most in value,
0:26.3	and Hollywood comes to Burnley. The Bank of Dave gets the Netflix movie treatment.
0:31.2	Don't forget you to stay upstate with all the latest breaking money news just to go to this ismoney.com.com.
0:35.7	Or download the app. But first we have on this
0:39.1	podcast spoken a lot about energy of late, rather unsurprisingly, but has a solution to the future of a
0:45.6	more sustainable and greener energy supply been found? A smart meter overhaul will mean energy
0:51.3	suppliers automatically receiving updates on how much power you're using
0:54.8	every half an hour of every day. Suppliers could then use that data to change prices as often as
1:01.5	48 times a day. Lee Boyce. I don't know why. Smart meters, I just think of you. Time of tariffs,
1:10.2	though. Explain. When you said smart meter
1:14.7	overhaul, I thought you were going to say smart meter overlord. I thought that's what you were
1:18.8	going to say. And I was fully on board of that, Georgie. Smart overlord inside your house.
1:25.4	Kind of. I think that this story has been on the cards for a little while, if I'm being quite
1:32.2	French, and it plays into the fears of a lot of our readers who have contacted us in their
1:37.8	droves over the years about the need for a smart meter, do they don't have to get a smart
1:42.4	meter, you know, lots of energy firms
1:44.6	needing to meet targets and sort of almost like bribing people into getting a smart
1:50.3	meter to try and push them into it.
	...

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