The energy market requires consumers to buy energy from middle men - the middle men buy from the producers and sell it on for whatever they can get.[XAP]Bob wrote: ↑20 Apr 2021, 11:03pm Whilst one kWh is as good as another as it comes off the grid there are good reasons for various tariffs...
Smoothing the cost fluctuations of power throughout the day is the most important thing for some customers, having cheap power when load is generally low is preferably for others, and it encourages load shifting, which benefits the grid. Smart meters enable customers to be more exposed to the wholesale market, which means they can potentially get very cheap electricity when supply exceeds demand, but they pay more when supply is relatively constrained.
With battery systems becoming more and more affordable, and with the potential to throw some micro generation into the mix as well, people can load shift away from those times, with a financial incentive, and consume electricity when the wholesale price is low (because there is lots of wind in the middle of the night). It can actually be beneficial to consume energy, charging a battery, at night and then discharge that battery back to grid when demand spikes. The benefit is economic for the consumer, but is also a net benefit to the grid (hence the economic incentive).
Additionally the energy market basically requires consumers to buy power from producers, so you can buy “green” power, despite the fact that all the energy is mixed up on the grid itself.
Smart meters could in theory vary the charge rate to reflect the spot price on the market. I'm sure the middle men would like such a system.
The system is so chaotic though that I think it's unlikely to happen - how long is it since the first smart meter roll out and all those glossy adverts and TV commercials promising great consumer savings?
I don't see any advantage for the consumer over the publicly owned CEGB and the local area supply authorities ( albeit the latters retail operations, showrooms etc were unnecessary ) - there are IMO too many spivs and chancers in the market since privatisation.