Last legs: These Droitwich cell towers are the only thing keeping the RTS service running
Two-decade-old pieces of glass and metal are the only thing among Britain’s 900,000 energy meters that are either working properly or seriously disturbed, or even switched off.
If that sounds unbelievable, welcome to the murky world of Radio Teleswitch (RTS) meters, where such apparent mistakes are just another day at the office for power companies.
RTS meters are used to implement the type of ‘time-of-use’ energy agreements that enable peak and off-peak energy use, the best known of which are the Economy 7 and Economy 10 tariffs.
This allows households to save money on the energy they use at certain times of the day, usually at night.
There are approximately 900,000 RTS meters in the country that charge time-of-use rates, which also work with smart meters and older mechanical meters with an internal clock.
But these RTS meters are facing a significant problem, which has left This is Money’s mailbags bulging with concerned readers lately.
In recent weeks and months, many energy companies have been contacting their Economy 7 and 10 customers to tell them that they may need to have a smart meter installed or their RTS meters may not work properly.
Some customers have even been told they will lose access to heating and hot water unless they have a smart meter installed.
That’s because these RTS meters are dependent on BBC Radio 4’s longwave radio for their operation, and the BBC wants to switch off that service.
This would mean that energy companies can no longer easily see at what time the customer uses energy, which obviously poses a problem when concluding energy deals during peak and off-peak hours.
Once the RTS service is disabled, customers will have a choice. They can keep their current meter and lose tariffs such as Economy 7 and 10, or they can upgrade to a smart meter, which can continue to run such deals.
Homes with mechanical meters remain unaffected.
Weight of the Ages: Droitwich Transmitting Station opened in the 1930s
The reason for our readers’ concern was that the 2024 deadline to turn off this RTS service was March 31, and their power companies didn’t tell them until 2024.
Many feared they wouldn’t be able to get a smart meter in time – or didn’t want one, leaving the future of their off-peak deals in doubt.
Although many communications from energy companies mentioned the possibility of an extension, many customers were still understandably confused.
Fortunately, last-ditch talks between energy companies and the BBC have now averted the problem by allowing an extension of the RTS service, at least until March next year – although not before giving many customers sleepless nights.
Why so many customers received such disturbing emails and letters at such short notice is beyond belief
Why so many customers received such disturbing emails and letters at such short notice is beyond belief.
But all the expansion has done is the end of the road, as the BBC is very keen to stop running RTS.
And with good reason, it must be said.
In England and Wales, RTS meters currently run via one main transmitter, based in Droitwich.
In turn, that old transmitter relies on valve technology to operate – the same kind of vacuum tubes that once powered old TVs and radios.
The problem is that the system requires two valves to work. They are both almost 20 years old, there are no spare parts anywhere in the world and if one of the valves breaks the RTS system stops working.
Anyone who has experience with valves knows that they break very often, and with a bang – indeed, rock stars relied on this to spectacular effect, throwing TVs out of hotel windows.
Now the meter-high valves at Droitwich broadcasting station are clearly stronger than your average TV or radio valve – although I think they’re still no match for the likes of Keith Moon in his heyday.
But the RTS system is clearly on its way out, and the BBC has been trying to replace it for a decade.
The reason the Beeb hasn’t done this yet is a decidedly more modern reason: smart meters, or rather the lack of them.
The only feasible replacement for an RTS meter is a smart meter, if customers want to continue using time-of-use tariffs.
Older mechanical meters also charge these rates, but they are no longer made and therefore cannot be installed to replace RTS devices.
Lights out? Economy 7 and 10 customers now have until 2025 until their meters stop working
That still leaves smart meters, but energy companies have not been able to install them quickly enough.
If all these old RTS meters were replaced with smart ones by March 31 this year, energy companies would have to install around 21,500 smart meters per day and focus only on RTS customers.
But according to the latest government figures, these companies only manage just over 9,000 smart meter installations per day for all customers.
Some energy companies have already replaced 75 percent of their customers’ RTS meters, while others have managed just 10 percent, according to Ofgem statistics.
Due to the slow rollout of smart meters, energy companies have signed several RTS expansion agreements with the BBC.
The March 2025 deadline may also be extended, but it’s clear that the days are numbered for RTS meters. Customers with these meters must purchase a smart meter or lose their time-of-use rates.
What energy companies need to do – and should have done much sooner – is communicate the options for RTS customers much earlier and much more clearly.
Failure to do so has caused significant and understandable concerns, requiring energy companies to settle their affairs well before the 2025 deadline.
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