Old-style smart meters installed despite issue with supplier switch

OUTDATED smart meters are being installed two years after the deadline for phasing them out, leaving customers at risk of switching problems.

Nearly 60,000 first generation meters were put in homes between August and January, figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph show.

These meters do not prevent a customer switching supplier to save money but are likely to lose their “smart” functions, including the ability to transmit readings automatically, if a customer moves between firms.

Since March 2019, suppliers have been installing a newer type of meter which does not have these problems. Any earlier meters installed since that date do not count towards suppliers’ installation targets, potentially putting them at risk of fines.

Andrew Long, of switching site Switchcraft, which provided the data via Elexon, said: “Any energy supplier still installing last generation smart meters needs to give a very clear justification for their actions because they can make it much harder for customers to shop around.”

He added: “If your supplier offers you a smart meter, I’d suggest you refuse

unless they can guarantee that it’ll be an updated model.”

First generation meters are being enrolled on to a national network to fix the problem, but just 3.5million of around 14 million have been upgraded so far. Energy firms installed 57,499 outdated meters in the past six months, 5,573 in January, Switchcraft said. A spokesman for Ofgem, the energy regulator, said suppliers risked “causing detriment to consumers” if they continued to install the earlier versions.

A spokesman for Energy UK, the trade body, called smart meters a “critical upgrade” which deliver benefits for “customers, the environment and the economy”. He said: “Whilst the majority of suppliers are installing second generation meters, in some circumstances it may be in the customer’s best interests to install a first generation meter.”

Among the firms which install first generation meters in rare circumstances were British Gas and Eon, with Utilita saying it would roll out old meters when “in their customers’ best interests”. Rob Cheesewright, a director at Smart Energy GB, which promotes the rollout, said: “In some cases, a first generation smart meter may lose some of its smart functions on switching energy supplier, but this is being resolved and millions of first generation meters have already been upgraded.”