Energy firms should at least be honest about why they want to impose smart meters

SIR – Can energy bosses such as Chris O’Shea of British Gas stop pretending that net zero is the primary consideration when they argue for making smart meters mandatory (report, May 9)?

The reason they want households to have them is that it will save them money on meter readers and bill chasers – just as supermarkets installed self-service checkouts to save money on staff but pretended that it was what their customers wanted.

Victor Launert

Matlock Bath, Derbyshire

SIR – I struggle to understand how smart meters will help with meeting net-zero targets.

We live out in the country, where our only energy is electricity, and have maximised the insulation of our house, inside and outside. We have a heat pump (which we love) and a smart meter, the monitor for which is gathering dust in the plant room. The meter does nothing for us, but it gives the electricity supplier the ability to bill us promptly and keep increasing our payments to reflect any rise in our usage. Unsurprisingly the charge never seems to go down when we are more economical.

Stephen Cupit Datchworth, Hertfordshire

SIR – My recent experience with EDF’s smart meter, which resulted in a demand for a £5,000 back payment – eventually overturned by the ombudsman after a trying and tortuous fight – indicates not only that the meters are prone to faults, but also that the back-up infrastructure is woefully substandard. If problems occur they can be inordinately difficult to sort out. Stick with what works.

David Burton Dorking, Surrey

SIR – For the past five years I have been regularly requesting a smart meter to be installed for my gas supply, via emails and the British Gas website. However, I am always told they are not available. Perhaps the boss is unaware of his company’s reluctance to install these devices.

John Piggott

Pulborough, West Sussex

sir – My house and every other house I have visited already possess smart meters. We call them switches. David Stolworthy Hornchurch, Essex