Electricity
Electricity supply to Park Hill
The electricity supply for Park Hill is provided from a connection to the national grid. The original energy provider was EON. The apartments run on a single rate tariff. Residents are not obliged to remain with the original energy supplier, and are free to source an alternative supplier/tariff of their choice.
Meter
The electricity meter is situated in the meter room at level 00. You should contact the building manager if you require information about your meter, or need access to it, including determining its serial number and MPAN number, both of which may be required by any new energy provider you elect to use.
Smart meters
All flats were equipped with first-generation (SMETS1) smart meters that allowed the original energy provider (EON) to read the meters remotely. If you still use EON as your energy provider, EON will still likely read your meter remotely in this way. If you have changed energy providers, then there is a different process for reading your meter (see Meter readings), depending on whether or not your new provider can read the original EON smart meter. In general, these meters are not readable by any provider except EON because they are of the first-generation type that were typically proprietary devices linked to a specific provider. However, a nationwide software update due to be complete by the end of 2021 will mean any supplier can get automatic readings from the meters we currently have. Newer second-generation (SMETS2) smart meters now offer some level of interoperability between energy providers and do not encourage customer lock-in.
Monitoring energy consumption
Smart meters typically provide real-time feedback on energy consumption with the aim of making consumers more aware of which appliances and/or behaviours contribute to higher energy costs in the household. This capability is not possible at Park Hill because the electricity meters are not installed inside the flats. Some providers offer various remote monitoring devices (with for example, Bluetooth connections) that promise to provide real-time consumption statistics, but these will not work at Park Hill either because the distance between the meter room and the flats is too great.
Meter readings
The building manager takes readings of all electricity meters periodically, at least monthly, and submits these to the Plumlife and Great Places customer service teams. If you wish to submit an electricity meter reading to your energy provider, you should contact Plumlife or Great Places customer service to obtain your most recent reading. Great Places tenants have found that the Web Chat facility of the customer portal is generally faster than waiting on the phone.
Billing
If you cannot submit a periodic meter reading, your energy provider will estimate your consumption and bill you accordingly. Any question about this process should be directed to your energy provider.
Electricity consumer unit and residual current device (RCD)
The electricity consumer unit for each apartment is located in either the kitchen area or behind the front door depending on your apartment type and individual circuits are appropriately labelled (Image 1). The consumer unit includes an RCD protection which will quickly cut off the supply if a fault occurs. The RCD should be tested quarterly.
Electricity supply failure or problems
If the power supply to the apartment fails and cannot be restored from the consumer unit contact your energy provider to ascertain if there is an issue with the supply. Once this has been ascertained please refer to the defect reporting procedure.