British Gas’s plea for mandatory smart meters

SIR – Chris O’shea, the CEO of British Gas, says every household should be forced to have a smart meter to help hit net-zero targets, despite widespread resistance to the devices (report, May 9). The implication is that he wants to be able to control how much gas we use, the price we pay and the pattern of usage at different times of the day. This is pure socialism – without a vote.

As a customer, I should be allowed to spend my money as I choose, and, provided I’m prepared to pay the quoted price, should be able to buy as much gas as I want at the time of my choosing. This is the free market.

It is not possible to believe in both positions simultaneously.

Ian Mackenzie

Preston, Lancashire

SIR – Please can Chris O’shea explain how smart meters will help hit net-zero targets? Without one I know exactly what appliances I am using. A meter will not mean I no longer heat the house, cook or watch television.

Anne Jappie

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

SIR – Before making smart meters mandatory, the Government should ask British Gas to try to fit them in my property as a test case. I live in a large, old, stone-built house, and have been told by my supplier that I can’t have a smart gas meter because my current model doesn’t have a smart equivalent, and, in any event, is too far away from my electricity meter to transmit the necessary signal to it. If British Gas solves these problems and pays for the work to enable the installation, it can have my supply contract for both fuels and my support for its policy. If it fails, it should withdraw the proposal.

Dr AS Hearne

Woodstock, Oxfordshire