Smart meters: Homes installed with millions of faulty devices in botched net zero rollout
Three million faulty smart meters have been installed in households across Britain
PA
Three million faulty smart meters have been installed in households across Britain in a botched roll-out, it has been revealed.
Almost one in ten smart energy meters installed in UK homes are not working properly and more than one in three homeowners have reported issues, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
The roll out was supposed to see a smart meter installed in every home by 2020 and is now expected to cost more than £13.5billion.
Smart meters are designed to replace traditional gas and electric meters and send automatic readings to energy suppliers.
The roll out was supposed to see a smart meter installed in every home by 2020 and is now expected to cost more than £13.5bn
PA
The display screen also gives homeowners real-time information about how much they are spending on power.
The Government is already falling behind on its latest 2025 target of putting smart meters in 80 per cent of homes.
Experts say that the rollout of smart meters is key to helping reduce energy consumption and meet the government's 2050 net zero target.
According to a report by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, only 57 per cent of households have had a meter installed by March this year.
Suppliers told the NAO that it was now more difficult to encourage customers to take up a smart meter and that they had already plucked all the “low hanging fruit” of households who are willing to install them.
The report says more than 1,000 smart meter installers have quit their jobs or retired since March 2020, while energy suppliers have been deterred from training new installers because strong competition meant they were quickly snapped up by rivals.
It is believed that out of the three million smart meters which have problems, many are “dumb” first-generation models that ceased functioning after consumers switched to different suppliers.
Dame Meg Hillier, the chairman of the cross-party public accounts committee, said smart meter take-up was a “far cry” from the initial plan to put the devices in every British home by 2020.
She said: “Today’s NAO report shows the Government has made progress addressing technological issues in smart meters since 2018.
The report says more than 1,000 smart meter installers have quit their jobs or retired since March 2020
PA
"However, 10 years on from the requirement for suppliers to install smart meters in all homes and small businesses, just 57pc of meters are smart, a far cry from the original target.”
Around 37 per cent of customers surveyed by Smart Energy GB, the company tasked with the roll-out, reported having issues with their smart meter, including no automatic readings, inaccurate bills, and the display not showing any information.
Despite the Government hailing smart readers as cost-savers, many people remain reluctant to switch over from conventional meters.
NAO head Gareth Davies said: “The rollout is now at a crucial point – and the department should ensure it has robust information on both the total costs and benefits of smart meters to make decisions from an informed position to maximise value for money.”
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