@
retrotecchie
I disagree. Suppliers can charge less than the OFGEM rates and indeed this time I think OVO has said it will lower prices in line with OFGEM amended by EPG but not increase the others, and E.On Next said it would not increase prices for prepayment customers. We've also seen than economy 7 rates vary from one supplier to another. So there is no possibility of the tariff rates being issued by any other party than the customers own supplier.
DCC do not originate any data, nor are they able to look at it as it passes through. They are just the conduit for data between the supplier and the meter(s). The data is encrypted and supposedly not interceptable by any other party.
While there are a lot of meters to update, I would imagine its a fairly easy task for a competent company to prepare the data files and submit them to DCC for implementation in a short timescale. The system is intended to be able to cope with truly massive volumes (think half hourly readings) and rates have changed every 6 months (now 3 months) in the past, and these issues have not arisen (as far as I can remember and as you know I'm chronologically gifted!) This isn't new but it does need organisation. Since the meters are not billing devices, there is no need for them to hold suppliers tariff prices first and then be changed down to EPG levels, other than if the method of updating adopted by the supplier does the update to customers accounts simultaneously with the smart meters . But even then the EPG discount would not go to the meters, and for the meters rates are VAT inclusive.
A thought occurred to me earlier as a result of a discussion with @
Mailman on provisional billing for gas and the need for an accurate Calorific Value for the conversion from volume to kWh. For the in house display to function there must be an approximate factor to convert the volume consumed to kWh, as the accurate figure will not be available. So Gas cost displays are more approximated, while electricity is virtually exact.
