Energy suppliers are using a scare tactic to ‘trick’ households into purchasing a smart meter, Money Mail has revealed.
Homes across the country have received letters warning them that their old meter has passed its use-by date – and likened it to rotting food.
Octopus Energy has been bombarding customers who don’t have a smart meter with emails over the past two months, saying: ‘Your electricity meter has now reached the end of its certification period… We are legally required under the Electricity Act 1989 to have it replaced…’
Confusion: regulator Ofgem could not say whether old electricity meters need to be replaced after a certain number of years
For those wondering what this ‘certification period’ means, the Octopus website goes on to say: ‘Just like food, every electricity meter is given an expiration date upon production.’
But electrician Mike Redfern-Jones from Denbigh, North Wales, who has been fitting energy meters for more than 30 years, says: ‘They are misleading people into switching by using food comparison scare tactics that make absolutely no sense.
‘This is not about a series of sausages or sliced bread, but about a sturdy device that will last for decades without any problems.’
He adds: ‘Traditional meters never seem to go wrong. The only problem we have had is that the first generation of smart meters stopped working because the technology was rolled out before it was ready.”
According to the Food Standards Agency, ‘best before’ refers to quality. “After the expiration date stated on a product, the food is safe to eat but may not be at its best,” it says.
This is separate from the expiration date, which has to do with food safety. The agency makes it clear that it does not compare food quality with that of electrical goods.
When asked whether old traditional meters have an expiration date, energy regulator Ofgem could not give a clear answer.
The first versions of so-called smart meters have been widely criticized for becoming ‘dumb’ as soon as you try to switch suppliers.
Confused: Electrician Mike Redfern-Jones said Octopus Energy’s scare tactics make absolutely no sense
This is when they can still record consumption, but cannot send automatic measurements to suppliers. About one in ten smart meters installed do not work properly, government figures show.
Two-thirds of Britain’s 30 million homes have so far agreed to install smart meters following a £224 million advertising campaign.
They display household energy consumption in real time, so that meter readings are no longer necessary and there is less risk of shocking bills.
The government wants these new reading devices installed in every home in Britain and is forcing suppliers to offer them to their customers.
Emma Bradford, 49, from Rutland, was shocked to hear her old meter had passed its use-by date, in a letter she received from her supplier Octopus.
Ms Bradford, technical support manager, says she asked Octopus to provide evidence as to why her old meter was supposedly out of date.
The power company backed down and agreed she didn’t have to change the meter if she didn’t want to, she says.
Ms Bradford added: ‘It’s clear they’re not trying to save us money – they just want to make more for themselves. We are being forced to use smart meters so that suppliers can read our hourly consumption so that they can charge variable rates, with higher levies during busy times.’
Disabled: Emma Bradford received a letter from Octopus Energy claiming her meter was outdated and needed to be replaced. But the company backed down when she asked for proof
Mr Redfern-Jones believes that one of the main reasons why suppliers are so keen for people to have a smart meter is because it saves them money.
They do not need to send out staff to read smart meters as this is done via remote signals sent from the unit.
Industry body Smart Energy GB admits that ‘time-of-use’ tariffs are part of the appeal of smart meters, as they allow suppliers to see how much energy you are using every half hour. This information allows them to charge different rates at different times of the day.
Not all suppliers have embraced this, but one supplier that has is Octopus. The ‘Agile’ service charges from less than 3p per kilowatt hour (kWh) during the night to £1 per kWh in the evening, when people are most likely to use electricity.
Another Octopus customer, a 68-year-old from Rochdale in Greater Manchester, who asked not to be named, was told her electric meter certification period had ended earlier this year – despite her meter only being installed in 2017 .
Mike Kelly, 82, from Bury, Greater Manchester, has received emails from Octopus pressuring him to switch to a smart meter.
The retired business executive says: ‘Trying to tell us that a meter has an expiration date, like rotting food, is simply ridiculous. We are being treated like fools.”
Octopus isn’t the only supplier using such tactics to get customers to switch. Eon was forced to apologize to customers two years ago after wrongly claiming that older meters were unsafe and should be replaced with smart ones.
Scottish Energy customers have also contacted Money Mail saying the supplier has told them their meters need to be replaced.
Dumb meters: About one in ten installed smart meters does not work properly, according to government figures
Sarah Lloyd, 58, from Derby, said: ‘Scottish Energy just won’t leave me alone. This year I have emailed, texted, written letters and even knocked on my door demanding that I switch to a smart meter.’
The official, whose name has been changed, adds: “The latest trick, which started in the summer, is to claim that my traditional meter is at the end of its life.”
Ofgem was unable to clarify whether the Electricity Act 1989 requires energy meters to be replaced with smart meters.
Instead, the watchdog suggested contacting the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for more information. This department suggested that yet another government department was responsible: the Office for Product Safety and Standards.
A government spokesperson said: ‘Electricity meters should be replaced after their certification period, which is usually a period of ten to twenty years… Smart meters are offered as standard when a meter needs to be replaced as they help families manage and save energy consumption . money in their accounts – but are not required and a customer can refuse to have one installed at any time.”
A spokesperson for Octopus Energy said: ‘If customers are approaching the expiry date of their traditional meter, we are required by Ofgem to contact them and offer a replacement.
‘We can install a new meter without the ‘communication hub’ if the customer requests it. This design allows the smart meter to function in ‘dumb mode’.’
An Ofgem spokesperson said: ‘Suppliers are responsible for providing meters that deliver the best results for consumers. We expect them to find a balance between the customer’s individual circumstances, safety and functionality issues.’
toby.walne@dailymail.co.uk
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