Letter: Powys public paying the price for smart meter issues
We live in Cwmbelan and I read Pat Atkinson's letter with interest as it exposes the tip of the chaos concerning 'smart meters'.
Some years ago the Government was keen for everyone to have a 'smart meter', so you got one whether you needed it or not.
In rural areas, like mid Wales, the wireless/telephone signal to link the 'smart meter' to your supplier did not work even then.
Today it still does not work and my supplier just fobs me off with a 'we can't do anything about it' attitude.
So each month I take my meter reading and send it to my supplier over the internet.
By not having a working 'smart meter' you are denied access to some your supplier's better tariffs (eg electric car charging), and it can cost you money.
We recently installed solar panels and in sunny May this year we exported more units (401) back to the grid than we received from our supplier (300).
We received £16.44 for our exported units, but were charged £73.08 for our imported units. With a working 'smart meter' we would have received £60.15 for our exported units ; quite a difference.
I have tried to involve my SM without much success, although our new MP has said he will investigate the problem.
It cannot be beyond the various responsible authorities and companies to resolve this situation and provide everyone with an accurate working 'smart meter' system, but I will bet a month's electricity bill that nothing will be done anytime soon.
Also, I will bet another month' bill that the performance of the wind turbines that are soon to be erected in view of our property will be monitored by some sort of radio/telephone signal that works.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
12 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The public sector malaise means Reeves's plans are not credible
Rachel Reeves took to the airwaves on Sunday to sell her spending review to a sceptical public facing tax rises to pay for her latest splurge. The Chancellor remains oblivious to the central flaw in her plans, which is the failure of public sector productivity to improve even while more money is being poured into services. Getting less for more is the precise opposite of what had been promised by Labour. An analysis by the Centre for Policy Studies shows the scale of this crisis. Public spending by 2028 will be nearly 25 per cent higher than before the pandemic. It will be the equivalent of £24,190 per adult in today's money, almost £3,000 more than in 2020. The extra cash and staff provided to deal with Covid are now baked in. The NHS is getting yet more money even though productivity is 20 per cent below pre-pandemic levels with little sign of improvement. The CPS observed that 'the state is becoming a combination of health service, benefit office and debt collection agency – with all other functions squeezed to compensate'. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which measures the Treasury's claims against economic reality, has begun a review of productivity amid concerns that all GDP predictions will need to be recalibrated. Ms Reeves may be forced to knock at least £20bn off her forecasts to fall into line with independent productivity assessments. The OBR's conclusions will shape the Chancellor's budget in the autumn and will require her to raise taxes or cut spending to stay within her own rules. Unless the Government urgently finds a way to shake the public sector out of its torpor, the entire economy will suffer.
Telegraph
13 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘No doubt' Trump will back nuclear submarine deal, says Starmer
There is 'no doubt' that Donald Trump will end up backing the Aukus nuclear submarine deal, Sir Keir Starmer has said during his trip to Canada ahead of the G7 summit. The pact between Australia, the UK and the US, known by its acronym, was thrown into doubt last week when the Pentagon announced a review into it. The agreement was signed in 2021 and is worth £176 billion, giving Australia nuclear-powered submarines for the first time. It is designed to counter the influence of China in the Indo-Pacific. The US president has appointed Elbridge Colby to head up the review. The former US deputy assistant secretary of defence questioned the deal in a speech last year, asking why the US was giving away 'this crown jewel asset when we most need it'. Both the US and the UK are under pressure to boost defence spending from Mr Trump, who has demanded Western allies do more to protect their own security. Sir Keir is expected to hold talks with Mr Trump during the G7 summit in Canada, giving him the opportunity to sway his counterpart to remain committed to the Aukus pact. Travelling with reporters on a plane to Canada, Sir Keir was asked what his message would be to Mr Trump about the importance of the alliance. Sir Keir said: 'Aukus is really important. We're fully committed to it. 'It's not unusual for an incoming government to do a review of a project like that. We, of course, looked into the issue when we came into government... and they're doing their own review. 'But I'm 100 per cent committed to it. I'm really clear about that.' Asked if he was confident Mr Trump would end up backing Aukus, Sir Keir said: 'Yeah, I think so. It's a really important project. So I don't have any doubt that this will progress.' The public optimism has been echoed in Australia, where Richard Marles, the defence minister, recently said of the review: 'I'm very confident this is going to happen.' Concerns about whether Mr Trump would remain fully behind Aukus were flagged early internally by Downing Street when he won the US presidential election last November. The agreement was signed by Joe Biden, the Democrat who defeated Mr Trump in the 2020 presidential election and has often been a focus of his criticism. Indeed, the other two leaders who signed the pact have also changed, with Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison long gone as the leaders of the UK and Australia respectively. Mr Trump appeared not to know what the acronym Aukus meant when it was mentioned in the Oval Office during Sir Keir's first visit to the new US president in February. But the Prime Minister seems hopeful that, like the deal to hand sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius that was waved through by Mr Biden, Mr Trump will eventually give it his backing. A Pentagon official told the BBC last week when the review was announced that the process was to ensure Aukus meets 'common sense, America First criteria'. Australia is buying up to five nuclear-powered submarines at a huge expense from the US, potentially making it easy to frame the deal as a boost for the American economy. Meanwhile, the date for implementation of the UK-US free trade deal, signed off by Sir Keir and Mr Trump in May, appears to be days away. It is possible Sir Keir will announce that the agreement is finally kicking in during the G7 summit, should he hold a formal bilateral meeting with the US president.
Rhyl Journal
20 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Donald Trump vetoed Israeli plan to kill Iran's supreme leader
The Israelis informed the Trump administration in recent days that it had developed a credible plan to kill Mr Khamenei. After being briefed on the plan, the White House made clear to Israeli officials that Mr Trump was opposed to the Israelis making the move. The Trump administration is desperate to keep Israel's military operation aimed at decapitating Iran's nuclear program from exploding into an even more expansive conflict and saw the plan to kill Mr Khamenei as a move that would enflame the conflict and potentially destabilise the region. Asked on Sunday about the plan during an interview on Fox News Channel's Special Report with Bret Baier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not directly address whether the White House rejected the plan. 'But I can tell you, I think that we do what we need to do, we'll do what we need to do. And I think the United States knows what is good for the United States,' Mr Netanyahu said. Mr Netanyahu's office declined to comment on the reports. Mr Trump's rejection of the proposal was first reported by Reuters. It comes as the president issued a stark warning to Iran against retaliating on US targets in the Middle East while also predicting that Israel and Iran would 'soon' make a deal to end their escalating conflict. Mr Trump in an early morning social meeting posting said the United States 'had nothing to do with the attack on Iran' as Israel and Iran traded missile attacks for the third straight day. 'The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight. If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before. However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and… — The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 15, 2025 Iran, however, has said that it would hold the US, which has provided Israel with much of its deep arsenal of weaponry, for its backing of Israel. Israel targeted Iran's Defence Ministry headquarters in Tehran and sites it alleged were associated with Iran's nuclear program, while Iranian missiles evaded Israeli air defences and slammed into buildings deep inside the country. Mr Trump said: 'If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US armed forces will come down on you at levels never seen before.' Hours later, the US president took to social media again to predict that 'Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal'. The US president made the claim that he has built a track record for de-escalating conflicts, and that he would get Israel and Iran to cease hostilities 'just like I got India and Pakistan to' after the two countries' recent cross-border confrontation. Mr Trump also pointed to efforts by his administration during his first term to mediate disputes between Serbia and Kosovo and Egypt and Ethiopia. 'Likewise, we will have PEACE, soon, between Israel and Iran!' Mr Trump said. 'Many calls and meetings now taking place. I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that's OK, the PEOPLE understand. MAKE THE MIDDLE EAST GREAT AGAIN!' The growing conflict between Israel and Iran is testing Mr Trump, who ran on a promise to quickly end the brutal wars in Gaza and Ukraine and build a foreign policy that more broadly favours steering clear of foreign conflicts. Mr Trump has struggled to find an endgame to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. And after criticising President Joe Biden during last year's campaign for preventing Israel from carrying out strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, Mr Trump found himself making the case to the Israelis to give diplomacy a chance. His administration's push on Tehran to give up its nuclear program came after the US and other world powers reached a long-term, comprehensive nuclear agreement in 2015 that limited Tehran's enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Mr Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday about the growing Israel-Iran conflict, and he is set to travel to Canada for Group of Seven leaders summit where the Mideast crisis will loom large over his talks with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan and the European Union.
