The FT yesterday carried the following headline: "Households offered first time-of-use energy tariff. Growth of digital smart meters opens up new ways of managing usage". (Note: You may find this article hidden behind a pay wall. Sorry, I can't do much about that).
The first part of this headline is patently untrue as anyone who has used a white meter, or Economy 7, service knows (and which the FT article does belatedly refer to). The new tariff offered by Green Energy UK, however, goes beyond the old white meter scheme in that it has three differently charged time periods:
11pm to 6am charged at 4.99p/kWh;
4pm to 7pm weeknights at 24.99p/kWh; and
all other times at 11.99p/kWh.
This is where the second half of the headline does have some traction. This three part tariff is enabled through a smart meter (better than having an array of black meter, white meter, pink meter - or whatever) and it does suggest that there will be more sophisticated tariffs to come in the future - perhaps even something approaching truly real-time pricing. When this happens will be dependent upon the speed of roll-out of smart meters (and some uniformity in their operation). Roll-out has been painfully slow to date with fewer than 5m being reported as installed and operating in DECC's 2016 Q3 progress report. Furthermore there continue to be problems with compatibility between different supplier/meter combinations. It's a case of "watch this space".
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