Smart meters have a reputation for being anything but smart. As part of a scheme designed to reduce consumers’ energy bills, the government has ordered about 53 million of them to be fitted in the nation’s households and small businesses by 2020.
The idea is that bill-payers never have to send a meter reading again because smart meters automatically transmit usage data to the supplier. Consumers also can monitor energy costs minute by minute, hopefully saving money in the process.
Would that it were so simple. The rollout has been beset by delays and failures, most crucially the fact that suppliers have been installing meters that have been unable to talk to other suppliers, meaning that if households switch to cheaper deals the meters stop