1 in 4 smart meters from energy firm not working

MORE than a quarter of smart meters installed by energy firm Bulb are not working properly. The problem means that thousands of customers have been unable to see energy consumption figures for gas or electricity readings.

And some of the gadgets are unable to transmit readings to Bulb, so they are no better than traditional meters.

This means that affected customers will have to send their readings to the firm until the problem is resolved.

The small energy firm has installed 24,000 smart meters since February.

But, since then, 7,000 customers have reported an issue with its gadgets.

Bulb says it has identified the problem and it is working to fix it.

In a blog post published on its website recently, the firm said no one should need a replacement smart meter, but that a small number of people will require a visit from an engineer.

A spokesman says: ‘Within two weeks, we’ll introduce a way for members to fix their In-Home Display through their Bulb account. We’ll keep members affected by this regularly updated.’

Last week, fresh figures revealed that plans to put 50 million smart gas and electricity meters in all homes and businesses by the end of next year were hopelessly behind schedule.

Official figures showed a 6.7 pc fall in the number of high-tech devices installed in the first three months of this year, compared with the final three of 2018.

The cost of the project is expected to hit the £11.5 billion mark.