Does YOUR energy supply depend on an old BBC radio tower in Droitwich?

Two-decade-old pieces of glass and metal are all that separates the UK’s 900,000 energy meters from working properly or suffering serious breakdowns and even shutting down.

If this sounds incredible, welcome to the murky world of Radio Teleswitch (RTS) meters, where such apparent oversights are just another day at the office for energy companies.

RTS meters are used to run the type of ‘time-of-use’ energy agreements that allow for peak and off-peak energy use, the most well-known being the Economy 7 and Economy 10 tariffs.

These allow households to save money on the energy they use at certain times of the day, usually at night.

There are around 900,000 RTS meters in the country that apply time-of-use tariffs, which also work with smart meters and older mechanical meters that have an internal clock.

But these RTS meters face a major problem, recently leaving This is Money’s mailbags overflowing with concerned readers.

In recent weeks and months, many energy companies have contacted their Economy 7 and 10 customers to tell them that they may need to install a smart meter or that otherwise their RTS meters may not work correctly.

Some customers have even been told they will lose access to heating and hot water unless they have a smart meter installed.

This is because these RTS meters rely on BBC Radio 4 longwave radio to operate, and the BBC wants to disable that service.

That would mean that energy companies can no longer easily know what time the customer is using energy, which obviously presents a problem when executing peak and off-peak energy agreements.

Once the RTS service is disabled, customers have a choice. They can keep their current meter and lose tariffs like Economy 7 and 10, or they can upgrade to a smart meter, which can continue to execute such agreements.

Those homes with mechanical meters will not be affected.

The reason for our readers’ concern was that the 2024 deadline to disconnect this RTS service was March 31, and their energy companies only told them this during 2024.

Many were worried they wouldn’t be able to get a smart meter in time, or not want one, leaving the future of their off-season deals in doubt.

While many communications from energy companies mentioned the possibility of an extension, many customers were still understandably nervous.

Fortunately, last-minute talks between energy companies and the BBC have avoided the problem by allowing an extension of the RTS service, at least until next March, although not before leaving many customers sleepless.

It’s hard to believe why so many customers were sent such worrying emails and letters in such a short time.

But all the extension has done is put the matter to the wayside, because the BBC is very keen to stop running RTS.

And rightly so, it must be said.

In England and Wales, RTS meters are currently powered by one main transmitter, based in Droitwich.

That ancient transmitter, in turn, relies on tube technology to operate: the same type of vacuum tubes that once powered old televisions and radios.

The problem is that the system requires two valves to operate. Both are almost 20 years old, there are no spare parts anywhere in the world and if any of the valves break, the RTS system stops working.

Anyone who has experience with valves knows that they break very often and hard; in fact, rock stars used to rely on this with spectacular results by throwing televisions out of hotel windows.

Now the meter high valves at the Droitwich transmitting station are clearly stronger than the average TV or radio valves, although I think they still can’t compete with the likes of Keith Moon in his heyday.

But clearly the RTS system is on its way out, and the BBC has been trying to replace it for 10 years.

The reason the Beeb hasn’t done so yet is clearly more modern: smart meters, or more accurately, the lack of them.

The only viable replacement for an RTS meter is a smart meter, if customers want to continue using time-of-use tariffs.

Older mechanical meters will also apply these rates, but they are no longer manufactured, so they cannot be installed to replace RTS devices.

That only leaves us with smart meters, but energy companies haven’t been able to install them fast enough.

Replacing all these old RTS meters with smart ones by March 31 this year would have required energy companies to install around 21,500 smart meters per day and focus solely on RTS customers.

But these companies only manage just over 9,000 smart meter installations per day for all customers, according to the latest Government figures.

Some energy companies have already replaced 75 per cent of their customers’ RTS meters, while others have only managed to replace 10 per cent, according to Ofgem statistics.

Due to the slow rollout of smart meters, energy companies have agreed several RTS extension agreements with the BBC.

The March 2025 deadline may also be extended, but the days are clearly numbered for RTS accountants. Customers with these meters need to get a smart meter or they will lose their time-of-use rates.

What energy companies need to do – and should have done much sooner – is communicate the options to RTS customers much earlier and much more clearly.

Failure to do so has caused considerable and understandable concern, so energy companies must get their act together long before the 2025 deadline arrives.