The Daily Telegraph

Spiralling smart meter costs are no surprise

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Sir – I am not surprised that costs for the roll-out of smart meters have risen to £13billion (report, September 17).

When a man came to fit mine, he spent a good hour removing the old meter before taking another hour to fit the smart one. However, the phone signal here is so poor that it wouldn’t work. Cue removal of smart meter and replacemen­t with the original. Jane Faiers

Wichenford, Worcesters­hire

Sir – I have been with my electricit­y and gas supplier for more than eight years and have, each time, opted for a fixed-rate, two-year term.

I have been told that, as my current term ends soon, I can renew with another fixed-rate term – but will have to accept a smart meter. If I say that I do not want the smart meter, I will be offered a variable-rate contract but not a fixed-rate term.

This seems like pressure selling – even though, when I questioned it, I was told that the meters are optional. I will be changing to another supplier, which has confirmed that it will not use these tactics. Peter de Snoo

Truro, Cornwall

Sir – Ross Clark (Comment, September 18) highlights the flaws in the Government’s roll-out of smart meters, but does not explain why we are in this mess.

Requiremen­ts for smart meters originated in an EU directive, the Third Energy Package, which allowed member states to implement their installati­on. This was seized on by Ed Miliband, who was energy secretary at the time, as a way of showing how green Britain and its Labour government were.

In more sensible EU countries, such as Germany, there has been no rush to spend billions of pounds of consumers’ money to save just £11 a year per household. It is time the Government stopped forcing energy suppliers to implement this unnecessar­y project. Michael Edwards

Haslemere, Surrey

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