Raymond Edgell and his wife Sandra decided to install a smart meter last August.
Their old gas and electricity meters at their house in Harefield, near Uxbridge, were in a cupboard under the stairs. And the couple – who are both in their 70s – found it increasingly difficult to take regular meter readings.
The new ‘smart’ device promised to automatically send readings to their supplier, Scottish Power, and ensure their bills would always be correct.
Meter anger: Official figures published yesterday show that 3.2 million customers have smart meters that do not function as they should
In fact, the couple would get a gadget with a screen that would show exactly how much power they used each day.
But seven months later, the device is not working. In fact, it never has been. Raymond, 78, a retired postman, estimates he has tried 150 times to call Scottish Power in the intervening months, to no avail.
Official figures published yesterday show that he is one of 3.2 million customers whose smart meters are not functioning properly.
Money Mail’s mailbag is full of letters from readers who, try as they might, can’t convince their energy supplier to fix their faulty meters.
Some have been stuck with broken smart meters for months and only know how much gas and electricity they use when a bill comes in.
Others say their gadget is stuck in ‘display mode’. This means that it is not configured and thus not linked to their account and does not show how much energy they use.
Some say their meter never worked due to a weak cellular signal or botched installations, while we are seeing more and more cases of monitors showing wildly incorrect readings.
Even on meters that do display correct usage information, some homeowners find that the readings are not being sent to their supplier, forcing them to send manual readings anyway.
In January, British Gas admitted that 4,000 customers had been affected by a smart meter malfunction that was unlikely to be fixed until June.
No service: Raymond Edgell and his wife Sandra’s smart meter never worked properly and their supplier Scottish Power still hasn’t replaced it after seven months
The smart meter in the Edgell household was not installed properly, says Raymond. It is permanently stuck in view mode and, erroneously, shows the couple’s daily spending as £1.66.
“I call every day, often three times, but then the connection is lost,” he says. ‘It doesn’t matter what day or what time you call, the recorded message always says they’re busy. I don’t know what else to do. Getting a smart meter has been a big mistake.
“Sandra is terrified that a giant bill of thousands of pounds is about to fall through the door.”
When Money Mail took its case to Scottish Power, a spokesman said it would investigate as a matter of priority, and the problem appeared to be caused by the smart meter being linked to a different property address.
The government is aiming to have a smart meter in every home by 2025 and has imposed strict installation targets on energy companies, which they must meet or face hefty fines.
But experts say the result is energy companies prioritizing new installations over repairing broken appliances — hence the massive delays and lack of help for homeowners like Raymond.
There’s also little incentive for companies to fix errors, as the energy watchdog Ofgem doesn’t track how long it takes suppliers to fix appliances.
According to figures released yesterday by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, nearly 3.2 million of the 31.3 million smart meters installed in households and small businesses in the UK operate in so-called ‘traditional mode’.
Then the meter will no longer automatically pass on the readings to the energy supplier.
Drive: The government aims to have a smart meter in every home by 2025 and has set strict installation targets for energy companies, which they must meet or face heavy fines
Consumer champion Martyn James says: ‘Vulnerable people can’t take advantage of energy saving schemes because they’re stuck with old meters – or wrong bills due to metering errors with smart meters.
“We urgently need a priority system so that those who need it most or are struggling financially solve their meter problems first.”
Veterinarian Nigel Taylor had to email his meter readings back to EDF after his device suddenly stopped working after 18 months.
The father-of-two from Plymouth says: ‘I was always aware of my energy consumption, but one day I got to my smart meter and it showed no data.’
This was in October 2021 and Nigel has still not been able to get a replacement device.
Nigel, 70, says: ‘Gestures of goodwill have been offered to me, but I feel I’m being fobbed off.
“I’m being bombarded with smart meter advertising, but I have a smart meter and want to use it, but it doesn’t work.”
Energy companies started installing the first generation of smart meters, known as Smets1, in 2013. But millions of these devices stopped working when customers switched suppliers.
Smets2, the newer model, is now being rolled out to all homes, meaning that meters should not lose their smart functions if households switch providers.
All remaining first-generation meters, some of which are already ten years old, will be upgraded to the new network remotely.
Smart meters work on a cellular signal, so people living in certain areas with weak signal or in buildings with thick walls may find that the meter just doesn’t work.
Sally Jones, 69, was harassed by her then energy company for a year before agreeing to have a smart meter installed at her home near Derby.
The retired math teacher has been fighting since June 2021 to get the device working.
She has since switched to EDF, but still can’t keep up with her expenses because the home display unit has stopped working.
Sally says, “My monthly bill has gone up every month since September.
‘Before all the price increases, I was paying around £100 a month. In December I was charged £384 and I had no idea why the bill was so high.’
She can’t use the meter to keep track of which appliances in her house are consuming the most energy.
‘I’m totally frustrated. I’ve been in the house and unplugged everything. I only turn on my microwave when I’m going to use it and I’ve disconnected all phones.”
Following Money Mail’s intervention, EDF repaired Sally’s display unit and paid £75 in compensation. It investigates Nigel’s case.
moneymail@dailymail.co.uk
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