//.And should your smart meter go wrong and disconnect you –//
Where does it mention in the article you provided, that the faulty meters have been disconnecting customers?
//It is not clear whether ‘lost connectivity’ refers to the smart meter communication or ‘loss of electrical supply’ – I doubt DM journalists are intelligent enough to know the difference.//
Perhaps not, but most people are. You can bet your bottom dollar that if customers had lost their electricity supply as a result of this issue, the DM would be shouting from the rooftops and providing photos of customers huddled in blankets, warming their hands round a candle. “Connectivity” obviously refers to the meter’s communication with either its display unit and/or the energy supplier.
I am becoming concerned for you, Hymie. Your constant fretting over the “rights” that you believe people will lose as a result of Brexit (as if they never had them before we joined the EEC) was bad enough. But now this.
//If you don’t have a Smart Meter your bill is estimated and you prefer that ?//
I don’t have a smart meter and I have not had an estimated bill for, perhaps, twenty years or more.
//But it stops you being your energy suppliers bank by loaning them money for free,..//
Nobody has to do that. Almost all suppliers give their customer the option of paying their bill (usually) quarterly in arrears. The tariff will probably be higher but if you really want to fanny around like that the choice is there. As mentioned, some suppliers pay interest on credit balances. If you don’t want to lend your supplier money take out a new monthly direct debit deal at the start of the winter. You will build up arrears during the cold months which will be paid off in the summer. It requires a bit of research and intelligence on the part of customers to determine what is best for them, that’s all (but which is probably too much for many people).
//For the folks that don't want a smart meter but still want to be able to track what electricity they are using, why not just install your own energy consumption device?//
Everybody has one. It’s called an electricity (or gas) meter. It’s already installed, it costs you nothing and you can read it as frequently as you like. The idea that you need to know how much a light bulb costs to run before you will think about turning it off is ludicrous.