Metering during the coronavirus pandemic

In order to comply with government measures that have been put in place to safeguard us all, we’ve had to adapt to fast-moving developments and make some changes to our metering services. We’re updating our Covid-19 FAQ.pdf regularly, but I wanted to provide you with some more detail about these changes, how they might impact you, and what we’re doing to continue to provide important services we know our customers value.

Following advice from our metering service providers, and in line with the responsibilities we have to protect our customers and colleagues, we’ll only be carrying out emergency metering work. To be clear, this means we’ll only be able to respond to situations in which customers have no power or gas – and need assistance restoring supply – as a result of a metering fault; and emergency new connections where supplies fitted are essential to providing key services. Details of how to contact us are included at the end.

All business–as–usual metering jobs have been suspended, including reading meters, installing smart meters, and carrying out maintenance work that’s not immediately critical to safety.

Why does SSE Business Energy need meter readings?

We’d encourage you to send us frequent meter readings so that we can provide you with accurate billing, based on how much energy you’ve actually used.

Please submit your own meter readings:

• Online here or at our Business Energy Centre
• Via meterline on 0345 071 9894
• By calling the meter reader directly, if they’ve left you a card or message.

You may receive estimated bills if your meter is an older traditional meter rather than a smart meter, or if there’s a failure with your communication hub on your meter. Estimated bills will be based on historical consumption usage from actual data that we have.

And if you’ve shut your premises, it’s important you provide us with an accurate meter reading now. We’ll hold this on record and use it to help pro rata an estimate in the event that we don’t use an actual reading for billing due to bill cycles.

Smart meters

For the time being, smart meter (AMR and SMETS2) installations are also suspended.

Smart meters record your energy use and send us your readings automatically over a secure wireless network. That spells an end to the hassle of manual meter readings and estimated bills.

As soon as we can we’ll ramp up smart meter installations which can future-proof and automate billing accuracy for you.

Using as little energy as possible

If you’ve closed your business, either temporarily or permanently, please make sure that all non-essential electricity and gas powered equipment is turned off. This will minimise your consumption and costs.

We provide an online analytical platform free of charge within all our energy supply contracts called SSE Clarity. This will enable you to monitor consumption at your sites to ensure it’s as low as possible during quieter periods. If you’d like help logging on to the platform please get in touch with clarity.support@sse.com.

Lack of supply due to emergencies

If you have no power, think you have a gas leak or can smell gas, you’ll need to call the relevant emergency number in the first instance, as normal.

For electricity, contact the local distribution network operator (DNO) on 105. The DNO will advise if there is a local power cut and investigate if there is a supply issue. You can find your DNO here.

For gas, contact the gas emergency service on 0800 111 999. The gas network will attend within an hour if a gas escape is unsafe – for example gas is still leaking or cannot be made safe for whatever reason. The network will attend within four hours if a gas leak has been controlled and made safe.

Lack of supply due to meter faults

If you need assistance in restoring supply due to a meter fault, please email the appropriate address as follows:

• Electricity, non-half-hourly: bemeteringappointments@sse.com
• Electricity, half-hourly: mbs.data.management@sse.com
• Gas: bes.gassiteworks@sse.com

I hope this has been able to answer some of your concerns in these challenging times. As the situation changes, we’ll keep updating this website so please check back.