I have a vague recollection of being offered the same by AGL some time back and chose not to. The service relies on customers creating a profile that reflects their household appliances. The assumption is that weighted averages are used to guess what is happening in the household. Aside from sharing those details with AGL, it would seem to offer little benefit to the average consumer. This answer from AGL offers some genuine insight? (Note: select the image to view an enlarged version, if it is too fine to read.)
The difference gets shared by the many stakeholders between the ‘big plug’ at the power station and our household meter box. There are several other Choice Community Topics that discuss the retail price of power and various profit centres. It’s a well trod path with so many concerns. Enjoy the read.
Of note in my opinion.
The retailers who also own some of the generation have been accused of gaming the system. Gold plated networks are a factor as are competition policy settings from way back in the days of Little John. The base cost of generation has not been the biggest driver of cost increases. It’s also of note that household consumers only consumer a minor portion of our electricity generation. Although we do contribute significantly to the uneven demand and peak demand. Something a Smart Meter can measure, and reward or penalise users for between 6-9am each morning and 5-8pm each evening. No need to tell me that’s not how we are billed or the alignments of typical off peak offers?
It may be of most benefit to the community if we choose from the above for any replies and more detailed discussion of the cost at the meter box.
True, but it is not so complicated that it’s not profitable. If anything has changed, it’s opportune to continue by adding to one of the topics already open on electric power pricing.
This is a concern, however, a much larger plan by our government has just been unveiled. I was reading this from ‘The Conversation’ and accessed the proposed legislation and read some of the submissions it is practically a done deal with very few voices in dissension.
" The federal government has [announced a plan] (Draft legislation proposed by Federal Government would allow your personal data to be shared between government agencies - ABC News) to increase the sharing of citizen data across the public sector.
This would include data sitting with agencies such as Centrelink, the Australian Tax Office, the Department of Home Affairs, the Bureau of Statistics and potentially other external “accredited” parties such as universities and businesses.
The draft Data Availability and Transparency Bill (https://www.datacommissioner.gov.au/data-sharing/legislation) released today will not fix ongoing problems in public administration. It won’t solve many problems in public health. It is a worrying shift to a post-privacy society.
It’s a matter of arrogance, rather than effectiveness. It highlights deficiencies in Australian law that need fixing.
There’s often a number of similar options when choosing which topic to post to.
The existing topics that may best suit can be found using the search icon in the header bar of each topic highlighted in red.
In this example the current topic is further down the list, and not visible. It’s also specific to concerns arising from security and use of Smart Meter data. I’ve highlighted an alternate topic that has similar discussion to the proposals for government departments exchanging data. Possibly a better option.
When I joined Stop Smart Meters some years ago, the tech-heads warned me of what was to feature in this energy sector. I watch documentaries on tech. advancements on SBS and ABC as well as Netflix. IT capabilities are advancing faster than any legislation can keep up with. I read a Choice article on household appliances will in the near future be ‘smart’. We already have helpful devices from Google and Amazon as well smart watches detecting our pulse, etc. Buyer beware!
As an electricity user the smart meter does not belong to the customer. As a matter of financial expediency the transition to meters that can be read remotely is being utilised to levy another cost on the consumer. In the near future the majority of meters will be upgraded to meet the industry needs. It’s not an option.
The evolution and increased uptake of Smart Devices in the home is a very different concern. Zero IMO to do with electricity meters. Are you suggesting we have more to beware of in that area from Google etc, and web connected services/providers than anything our electricity meter might one day morph into. The meter box Transformer remains a toy of childhood imagination?
