Thousands of customers in England have been sent inaccurate energy bills after switching to a smart meter, according to a leading charity.

Citizens Advice said nearly half (49pc) of the 52,000 concerned customers who
got in touch about their energy bills between January and October had
experienced issues with a smart meter.

The Government is aiming to install a meter in three quarters of British homes by
2025 amid an ambitious rollout forecast to cost more than £13.5bn. Advocates
argue that the technology helps to make billing more accurate by sending energy
suppliers up-to-date readings automatically.

However, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) itself has
admitted 4.3m smart meters are “dumb” – potentially leading to incorrect bills.
Citizens Advice previously said it had received complaints of shock bills of more
than £1,000 after smart meters failed to send updates to energy suppliers,
leading to people dramatically underestimating their usage.

The 52,000 customers who contacted the company equated to one person every
two minutes. It was an 83pc increase compared to the same period in 2020,
before the energy crisis.

Citizens Advice urged Ofgem, the Government regulator, to strengthen
protections for consumers by limiting back-billing to six months for people with
smart meters fitted.

The smart meter rollout is lagging behind a revised target to install the devices in
74.5pc of homes by 2025, with only 61pc of households currently using one.

Large energy suppliers installed 663,167 in the second quarter of the year, down
by 15pc year-on-year. Outside the pandemic, this was the lowest quarterly figure
for more than eight years.

The downturn comes despite electricity prices soaring, which should make the
financial benefits of smart meters more apparent…….

Smart meter cons:

-Smart meters have been known to go “dumb”, leaving households facing shock bills
that don’t match their in-home display. Some customers claim suppliers have been
unresponsive when asked to fix a broken meter.

-Suppliers can switch your meter over to “prepayment” mode without needing to
enter your home, which can effectively cut you off from your energy supply.

-Time-of-use tariffs are largely useless to households more reliant on gas, as they only
take into account electricity usage. This means most households will be locked out of
more meaningful savings.

-Even for households that use a lot of electricity, demand flexibility schemes offered
by providers offer meagre sums of money.

Abridged from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/bills/energy/thousands-sent-incorrect-bills-after-installing-smart-meter/