Martin Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, has issued a stark warning about the UK’s smart meter rollout.
In a letter to Edward Miliband, secretary of state for Energy Security and Net Zero, Lewis urged the Government to rethink its targets, shifting focus from new installations to repairing faulty meters.
The money saving expert highlighted that “too many smart meters” are not functioning properly, leaving households at risk of shock bills and misbilling.
Lewis wrote to Miliband, saying: “A rethink is needed – specifically I’d suggest shifting firms’ targets from smart meter installations to the overall number of ‘working’ smart meters, which would incentivise firms to do both installations and repairs.”
This call for action follows Lewis and his teams’ discovery that the Government estimates of working smart meters are incorrect.
The Government’s estimate around 10 per cent of domestic smart meters are not working, yet this only includes the narrow definition of smart meters in ‘dumb’ mode (ie, not sending automatic readings to the supplier).
Lewis wrote: “Our latest MSE research (via statistically representative polling), which asked people if their smart meters work, shows 19 per cent say theirs don’t work.
The Government aims to have smart meters installed in 74.5 per cent of homes by the end of 2025
PA
“The reason this is so much higher is that it includes everything people feel has gone wrong, including in-home displays that won’t communicate or connect, incorrect data on tariffs or usage, and prepay top-ups that don’t register correctly.”
He warned that the current focus on installations is leaving many households frustrated and at risk of mis-billing’s and further problems as repairs are slow if they happen at all.
The House of Commons public accounts committee found that suppliers were prioritising new installations over repairs to meet rollout targets, as the Government aims to have smart meters installed in 74.5 per cent of homes by the end of 2025.
The current rules only require firms to take “all reasonable steps” to repair or replace faulty meters, whereas there are binding targets for new installations with penalties for missed targets.
However the installation programmer has faced numerous setbacks. According to figures released by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero earlier this year, nearly four million smart meters are malfunctioning in the UK.
This has led to some households facing potentially life-changing bills. A high-profile example occurred last December when artist Grayson Perry reported his monthly electricity charge had skyrocketed from £300 to £39,000 due to a faulty smart meter.
Earlier this year, Citizens Advice warned that millions of households were missing out on the benefits of their smart meter due to faults and poor service from their supplier.
More than half of British homes now have a smart meter, but they are being let down by suppliers who are often “nowhere to be found” when problems arise with them, the consumer charity said.
It has called for new rules to ensure energy suppliers identify and fix problems as quickly as possible, saying it was particularly worried that people could end up with huge unexpected bills if their supplier is not able to take an automatic reading for an extended period of time.
Lewis expressed disappointment with the rollout’s history, describing it as “one of sloth, poor decisions, poor technology and over-expense.”
He warned that the current approach risks damaging the reputation of smart meters, with many consumers now willing to pay more to avoid having one installed.
He proposed a solution to improve the smart meter rollout, suggesting shifting targets from installations to the overall number of working smart meters.
This would incentivise firms to focus on both new installations and repairs.
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The consumer expert emphasised the potential benefits of properly functioning smart meters.
He said: “Smart meters, done right, offer an exciting future that should benefit energy security and enable innovative tariffs that can diminish peak usage, by incentivising people to shift usage to times when renewables are dominant – all of which should cut consumer costs.
“Shifting the target to ‘working’ smart meters could help give firms some wiggle room to get people back ‘online’, and in the long run, the hopefully improved word of mouth will lead more smart-meter-sceptics to decide they want to give it a go.”