Outsmarting an over-active smart meter

SIR – Last April we had a smart meter installed and our electricity bills immediately quadrupled from £120 to over £500 a quarter (Letters, March 5).

On complaining again, it became obvious that the company believed the meter reading. It finally agreed to send out an engineer. I pointed out that the meter was at that moment recording 4,174.4 kWh usage. The catch? I had thrown the main switch and the only thing in the house using electricity was the meter itself.

Even so, the company demanded I pay them £64 for their trouble or they would do nothing. Bill Wilson Norwich SIR – It is not just smart electricity meters that may be inaccurate but smart gas meters, too. Temperature, atmospheric pressure and calorific value all play a role.

However, since October, the EU’s Measuring Instruments Directive reduced the accuracy requirement to plus or minus 3 per cent (an overall range of 6 per cent). Such a range is likely to cause more problems for customers’ and businesses’ future meter readings and billings.

Overcharging through inaccuracy is not acceptable. Before the Government commits energy consumers to spending billions, it should reconsider the roll-out of smart meters and commission an independent review to look at cheaper, simpler ways, putting consumer interests first. Dan Lewis Senior Infrastructure Adviser, Institute of Directors, London SW1 SIR – As someone from an electronics background, I have wondered for years about the accuracy of electronic electricity meters, not just smart ones.

The mathematics of working out the true power consumption is quite complicated and one wonders if corners were once cut. Since electronic designs and software “procedures” tend to be borrowed and re-used, it is possible smart meters incorporate previous mistakes in non-smart electricity meters. John Tait Wrexham