Why so many householders want they’d by no means put in a wise meter

Maybe, it was a result of rampant election fever, but the Government’s latest data on the smart meter revolution hardly got a mention when released six days ago.

It should have done because the technology’s rollout is proving an embarrassment for all concerned — be it suppliers, regulators, advocates and, of course, the Government.

More importantly, for many smart meter adopters, it is a journey they wished they had never embarked upon. Their meters refuse to play ball and work in smart mode.

Although the intention was for the country to be covered in a blanket of smart meters by 2019, that dream died long ago. 

Now the aim by the end of next year is to have them in 75 per cent of homes and 69 per cent of small businesses.

Yet even these more modest targets are looking unachievable. According to the latest statistics issued by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), the respective installation percentages are running at 62.6 and 56.9 per cent.

Given their track record, it would take a gargantuan effort for 62.6 and 56.9 to become 75 and 69 per cent by the time 2026 comes around.

While Energy UK, the energy industry’s collective voice, is adamant that smart meters will play a major part in developing a ‘flexible, cheaper and more efficient energy’ sector for consumers, there are far too many gremlins floating around the system for its words to ring true.

Smart meter installations, as Energy UK admits, are being held back by a dearth of installers, while antipathy towards the devices remains widespread, especially among the elderly who are distrustful of the technology.

Yet the biggest factor holding back the revolution is unreliability. A big chunk of smart meters do not work as they should, which is to automatically transmit customer energy usage data to suppliers — thereby negating the need for meters to be read either by customers or by a company employee.

In other words, they are smart in theory, but dumb in practice — resulting in customers left with meters which are no better than the ones they were encouraged to jettison.

This issue cannot be under-stated. The DESNZ data confirms that currently (at the end of March this year), 10.9 per cent — one in nine — of all smart meters installed in homes and business are not working as intended. In total, 3.9 million smart meters are not smart, but dumb as dumb can be.

This is a result of various factors: old-style smart meters (known as SMETS1) that are unable to cope with customers switching supplier, causing them to go into dumb mode; some installed meters that have yet to go live; and meters that, because of technical hiccups, are unable to relay data.

For those whose smart meters become ‘dumb’, many face an eternity waiting for their supplier to fix the problem. 

This is essentially because suppliers are prioritising installations for fear of incurring financial penalties if they do not meet targets set by energy regulator Ofgem.

When it comes to ensuring customers’ smart meters operate correctly, the regulator’s touch is much lighter.

So far, Ofgem has handed out fines of £10.8 million to six energy suppliers which failed to meet their 2022 installation targets. Further fines are likely because of many suppliers (among them energy giants British Gas and EDF) missing last year’s targets.

But no fines have yet to be issued to companies which are tardy when customers’ smart meters go on the blink.

Centrica, owner of British Gas, admitted to Money Mail yesterday that suppliers face a ‘conundrum’ fixing ‘old SMETS1 issues’ while ‘also hitting targets for new installations’.

Citizens Advice says Ofgem must impose new ‘guaranteed standards of performance’ on suppliers. These would require firms to investigate smart meter problems promptly and put a repair plan in place. Failure to meet these standards, it says, should result in customers being compensated.

Yesterday, Gillian Cooper, director of energy at the consumer advice organisation, told Money Mail: ‘Millions of people are missing out on the benefits of smart meters because the technology isn’t working. 

Too many are being left in limbo when their meter fails, with no idea what the problem is or how long it will take to fix.’

She is also concerned that failing smart meter technology is resulting in many customers experiencing acute billing problems — with some receiving huge catch-up bills of £1,000 or more after meters go unchecked by suppliers for months.

Ms Cooper says the current rule allowing suppliers to back-bill customers for a whole year should be cut to six months for smart meter users. 

‘Only with tougher rules can Ofgem crack down on sluggish suppliers who are all too often nowhere to be found when smart meters go wrong.’

Ofgem said it was unable to provide a ‘specific new response’ to Money Mail’s request for details on what it is doing to get suppliers to deal with smart meter problems in a timely way.

This, it explained, was a result of its need to observe pre-election ‘sensitivity rules’ laid down by the Cabinet Office.

But it did reiterate that suppliers have a responsibility to ensure they are able to ‘communicate’ with customers’ smart meters.

Money Mail also asked suppliers what resources they are putting into eradicating the plague of dumb meters. Only a handful responded (says it all doesn’t it?).

Utilita said only 4.6 per cent of its smart meters operated in traditional mode. EDF Energy’s equivalent figure was 7 per cent.

EDF also said it had signed up to a voluntary scheme launched by the DESNZ aimed at ensuring faulty in-home display units are promptly replaced — not just in the first year after installation.

Citizens Advice’s research indicates that nearly a third of smart meter users have had problems with their in-home display unit — a device which allows households to monitor in near-real time their energy usage.

B ritish Gas said it did not have statistics available despite supplying such information to the DESNZ. Instead, it stressed the importance of the industry and Government working together to ensure the end of 2025 rollout targets for smart meters are met.

Readers who have jumped on board the smart meter bandwagon, only to be left disappointed when their meter has gone dumb, back Citizens Advice’s call for Ofgem to get tough with suppliers.

Among them is Tracey Jackson who has been trying to help her parents, Wally and Patricia Howells, get their smart meters to work at their bungalow just outside Dudley in the West Midlands.

Her parents have been waiting since the beginning of December for their supplier to get the gas meter readings.

Yesterday, an engineer visited the Howells’ home, only for the problem not to be resolved.

Tracey, who works with Wally in the family roof glazing company, encouraged her mum and dad to embrace the new technology.

She had smart meters installed in her family home in nearby Stourbridge and has not had any problems. ‘It’s so frustrating for Mum and Dad,’ says 51-year-old Tracey.

‘To compound matters, the gas consumption has suspiciously risen to four times its normal level. For households to embrace the smart meter revolution, suppliers must be required to step up when things go wrong. Citizens Advice’s proposals are spot-on.’

Meter advocate Smart Energy GB says 83 per cent of smart meter adopters are happy with them. It says suppliers have an obligation to ensure customers’ meters work.

• Is your smart meter playing dumb? Email jeff.prestridge@dailymail.co.uk