I face losing my electricity but EDF can't replace my RTS meter
Every time I log into my EDF account I get a reminder and a link to book a visit for a meter replacement, but there are never any slots available.
I've been trying since December. On the two occasions I managed to get one, EDF cancelled or failed to show.
TK, West Sussex
SHA in Glasgow also fears being left high, dry and chilly when the RTS, which switches electric heating and hot water systems between peak and off-peak rates, is phased out. He has been trying to get ScottishPower to replace his RTS meter for 18 months.
He was offered an appointment for a date that doesn't exist, and later a date for the previous year. ScottishPower, keen to be helpful, then booked him in one month after the switch-off.
Up to 300,000 households could be in a similar predicament, according to reports, because RTS meters aren't being replaced in time for the 30 June deadline.
EDF has now confirmed an appointment for TK, and promised to pay the mandatory compensation due for the cancellations.
'If an appointment isn't immediately available, customers will be placed on a priority list to be booked in ahead of the 30 June deadline,' it says.
ScottishPower tells me that 80% of its customers have completed, or booked, appointments, and that it has quadrupled its weekly installation rate. It says it has contacted SHA to agree a date.
The utilities regulator Ofcom tells me the shutdown will be phased, region by region, over three months, rather than on one day in June.
'Ofgem has demanded action plans from every supplier, which we are scrutinising on an ongoing basis to ensure that robust contingencies are in place to protect any customers who remain on RTS meters after the phased switch-off process begins,' it says.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions.
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