Meter Fault - Estimated bills since last October.

We recently got solar panels. I'm currently obsessed with watching what we are using and was therefore anticipating a lower bill from Energia in June. However June bill was late so I contacted them and they issued a bill stating the delay was due to some data transfer issue between ESB and themselves in June. That was grand, however the bill still showed an average use of around 13kwh per day. This has been the same for some months. I checked the smart meter and discovered the screen was blank. I have contacted ESB Networks and they will send someone out.

Someone then suggested looking up energy consumption data on my ESB Networks account and there I have discovered that there is no data since last October. I have spoken to ESB again today and it would appear we have been receiving estimated bills since last October. On asking if the correct information will be retrieved, I was told it may be possible and that the faulty meter will be investigated to see if correct data can be retrieved. In the meantime the customer service person didn't know if our solar use is even recognised or if we will be charged as if we don't have solar.

Has anyone else come across a similar issue where there meter was faulty and bills were estimated? Was subsequent bill rectified - I suppose that could go either way and we could end up owing money as opposed to them owing us.

Moral of the story - make sure meters are working and do an odd check on your ESB Networks account to ensure data is being received by them.

Marsha25 said:

Someone then suggested looking up energy consumption data on my ESB Networks account and there I have discovered that there is no data since last October.

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Marsha25 said:

Moral of the story - make sure meters are working and do an odd check on your ESB Networks account to ensure data is being received by them.

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Or, at the very least, check your bills and if they're constantly estimated then do something about it - especially if you're on a smart meter where estimated bills should definitely be a rarity. E.g.:

I can't see on the bill if they are estimated. It just gives a figure for day/night/peak usage but doesn't state if they are actual readings or estimated.

Electric Ireland and Energia both issue bills that detail whether the readings are actual or estimated as far as I know...

Electric Ireland shows a lower case "e" after the units for estimated readings or a lower case "a" for actual readings

e.g.123456a or 654321e

I thought other suppliers would follow suit in some fashion.

Marsha25 said:

they issued a bill stating the delay was due to some data transfer issue between ESB and themselves in June.

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Nothing new about that. They have at times failed to communicate with their sister company Electric Ireland.

As the meter has failed through no fault of yours, why did your supplier not raise a flag and say they were not getting consumption data from ESB networks? Why did ESB Networks not raise a flag and say they were not getting consumption data from one of their meters?

Pretty poor service all round, and as there are no consumption figures, your electricity charges are a big, fat zero. Hit them where it hurts, in the pocket, that'll get their attention.

We are with Energia and looking at the bill there is no mention of estimated figures as far as I can see. We are on a Smart Meter rate as opposed to a standard rate and I do recall on the standard that it would tell you if it was actual/customer read/estimated. It is surprising that neither ESB or Energia picked up on the fault. I will contact Energia next and see what they say.

My gas meter stopped counting units, was noticed after about 6 weeks.
iirc I wasn't charged. But it was summer and usage would have been low.

Above is from a recent Energia Smart meter bill that shows the Actual consumption.


Below is from a pre-smart meter Energia bill that shows both an Actual and an Estimated reading.

That's the stuff. Just about to post an Electric Ireland bill.

Before switching to a smart plan mine would have had the A or E but since then they don't.

Marsha25 said:

Before switching to a smart plan mine would have had the A or E but since then they don't.

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That's just weird. By any chance did you (or your installer) take the closing readings from your old meter before you had the smart meter installed?

Incidentally, did you have a smart meter for long before the PV panels were installed?

Yes they took a reading when it was installed. We got the smart meter, I think, in 2023. Our plan was up for renewal in December 2023 and we switched to a smart plan at that time. It seems it was all going grand until October 2024. I spoke to Energia this afternoon. The guy could see that we were generating solar power and sending units to the grid. He said it should have been ESB who noticed that our smart meter connectivity was only grade 1. He said there should be an amended bill when ESB replace the meter.

We only got the solar panels last month. Hopefully our next bill will reflect this and best case scenario we are owed a few euro from the estimated bills as opposed to owing them more money.

Marsha25 said:

We are with Energia and looking at the bill there is no mention of estimated figures as far as I can see.

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I was with Energia until recently and have a smart meter on a "Nightsaver" day/night (non smart) tariff and my last bill clarified that the meter readings were actual readings ('A'):

Marsha25 said:

Before switching to a smart plan mine would have had the A or E but since then they don't

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That's odd. So it sounds like if you're on a smart tariff they don't clarify if the unit readings are actual or estimated even though estimated readings are still a possibility with a smart meter.

And, that being the case, they are acting contrary to their own billing explanatory page:

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A summary of your current account balance Account balance before Cost of your bill New account balance If your account is currently in credit you will see the letter 'CR'	indicates a breakdown of your usage, showing the costs in more detail. If your bill amount has been calculated based on an estimate meter reading you'll see the letter ‘E’ in your bill.

As I mentioned above, I have a smart meter but still in MCC02 (day/night tariff) mode rather than a smart plan mode and was still getting the 'A' or 'E' on readings to indicate actual or estimated readings on my Energia bill.

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