Securing Electricity Meter Cupboard

[Iggifer]

I don't see why there couldn't be a locked cabinet available that all DNO and MOP staff have a master key for.

Would cost them a fortune to equip every one of them with a key I guess but it's doable. They (and I) obviously don't see it as an issue (he says with an internal service head)

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I think you're right John but why help them and opt to have one? I wouldn't mind so much if they were honest about it!

It is a defining characteristic of almost every large organisation that I have ever encountered that they routinely hold their customers in contempt and trot out egregiously false "explanations" thinking that they will be believed.

A recent example - a complaint to Magimix about the gougingly high price for a replacement lid for a food processor bowl. Answer - they cost more to make when they are a spare part than they do when they are made to be sold with a processor.

An older one? A question to Epson about why an inkjet printer of theirs which is made to use an official Epson external CISS is not available in the UK. Answer - it's not made in the UK and so cannot be sold here.

 

[rsgaz]

I don't see why there couldn't be a locked cabinet available that all DNO and MOP staff have a master key for.

I asked my gas supplier years ago whether the meter readers can bring up individual notes about a property on their handheld computer and they can(at least, in my area they can; MeterPlus to be precise). So a simpler solution would be a combination padlock or combination door bolt and then tell your supplier to add a note onto your property details with the code, so that you don't hinder the meter readers.

Gaz

 

[Iggifer]

I asked my gas supplier years ago whether the meter readers can bring up individual notes about a property on their handheld computer and they can(at least, in my area they can; MeterPlus to be precise). So a simpler solution would be a combination padlock or combination door bolt and then tell your supplier to add a note onto your property details with the code, so that you don't hinder the meter readers.

Gaz

That's another option. Although that relies on all meter readers and DNO staff having that ability. Given that the DNO often have zero notes on properties that are of any use to anybody, they'd be smashing their way into the cabinet in an emergency (tbh, they'd do that regardless of whether they had the code or not I suspect)

 

[JohnD]

I don't see why there couldn't be a locked cabinet available that all DNO and MOP staff have a master key for.

Like FB keys, every lowlife who wanted it would also acquire one.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

.... the health aspects mentioned above ....

Something from the US Chapter of the Tinfoil Hat Brigade:

9/5/2011 Since smart meters have been installed around me on other homes, I have experienced ear aches, headaches and a feeling of pressure at the top of my head also nausea. I have tried putting heavy duty foil on my window where I usually sit. Very upset and don’t know what to do.
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what else they can do with them such as individual pricing plans based on your own peak usage etc.

Probably not. Plans with frequently varying prices to manage peak demand, etc, but they'd want them to be uniformly applied - not much point trying to manage the peak demand of an individual.


[/quote]To kick peoples back doors in when they have enough people using them and force down maximum demand by household because they have failed to build more power stations and the bloody wind isn't blowing? Sounds most likley to me![/QUOTE]
They won't need to kick doors down - they'll be able to turn off the power remotely, via the meter. (So will hackers, BTW).

The demand management plan will (initially at least) consist mainly of carrots - lower prices if you let us have some control over when you use lots of electricity and/or if you install smart appliances which can negotiate with each other about who gets what when. They will be able to prioritise households, so old Mrs Renalfailure doesn't get cut off but her neighbours, Mr & Mrs Outatworkallday do.

But BTW - the failure to build enough power stations is entirely the fault of successive governments.

 

[JohnW2]

I don't see why there couldn't be a locked cabinet available that all DNO and MOP staff have a master key for.

As I implied, the moment one supplies thousands of people with master keys, it will probably only be a matter of days (or minutes!) before they become freely available on the black market!

Kind Regards, John

 

[EFLImpudence]

Lets face it why on earth would the Big 6 be so excited about spending billions replacing perfectly good meters?

It's worse than that.

They're not spending their billions.

You are paying for it through a surcharge already, so - even if you are allowed to refuse one indefinitely you will have still paid for one and, presumably, they will keep the money.

Over three hundred pounds household, I believe. Eleven billion divided by however many households there are.

 

[JohnW2]

Over three hundred pounds household, I believe.

Worse than RCDs

Kind Regards, John

 

[stillp]

the failure to build enough power stations is entirely the fault of successive governments.

Inevitable, given that the time to build a power station is greater that the time between elections, and the total lack of knowledge among MPs about where 'stuff' such as steel, electricity, potable water, etc comes from.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Of course they know.

It comes from the foreign companies to whom they sold the steel makers, electricity companies etc at knock-down prices in order to make themselves personally richer.

Take the ******* lot back without compensation, I say.

 

[stillp]

No BAS, we know that but they don't.

 

[SimonH2]

There's also a safety issue. On one property, the meter cabinet has clearly been left open to the weather for some time judging by the "weathered" state of the weetabix board in the back of the box.
As to "is it a problem", well... surely most of us can remember back to when we were youngsters and perhaps a bit less considerate about the effects of pranks. I can remember one prank was to turn off the shutoff valve on peoples oil tanks (we didn't have gas in the village) Not that I'm admitting to anything of course

 

[Jadele]

ooooohhh those days "back in the village" lol -

 

[penguin16]

Seems like a malicious person with access to your meter cupboard (in a TN-C-S or TN-S system at least) could disconnect your earth (making your installation unsafe) or, worse, connect it to a live supply.