How millions of us could be 存在 overcharged by our smart メーターs
- Smart メーター 使用者s can be 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金d 3% more or 3.5% いっそう少なく than the 量 used?
Smart energy メーターs 許す 公共事業（料金）／有用性 会社／堅いs to ‘overcharge’ more than £50 a year on 最高の，を越す of the gas and electricity you use, Money Mail can 明らかにする／漏らす.
There are 34.8 million smart メーターs 任命する／導入するd in the UK, with 使用者s unaware that 産業 規則 特記する／引用するs メーターs as having a ‘寛容 level of between +3 per cent? and -3.5 per cent of actual usage’.
This means the 顧客 can be 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金d 3 per cent more on a 法案 or 3.5 per cent いっそう少なく on a 法案 than the 量 used ? and this is not a sleight of 手渡す, but 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する in the small print of 顧客 法案ing.
によれば 産業 regulator Ofgem the 普通の／平均（する） 月毎の energy 法案 is £153. So with a 3 per cent 利ざや for error a typical home might 支払う／賃金 £4.60 extra a month or more than £55 a year, which 追加するs up to £2,750 over a lifetime of 法案 支払う／賃金ing.
Energy 使用者s have been 令状ing to Money Mail with their 関心s about 正確 on their 法案s and they are then 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金d a 料金 ? up to £192 ? if they want to have a smart メーター 実験（する）d and it’s 設立する to be working.
不確かの: 産業 規則 特記する／引用するs smart メーターs as having a ‘寛容 level of between +3% and -3.5% of actual usage’
One in ten smart メーターs now no longer 作品 適切に, によれば 研究 解放（する）d by the 政府 last month.?
The 大多数 of these have gone ‘dumb’, so must be read manually like a 伝統的な メーター. However, in some 事例／患者s they have been giving wildly 不確かの 人物／姿／数字s.
Artist Grayson Perry was stung with a £39,000 electricity 法案 by EDF Energy late last year instead of the usual £300, 予定 to an ‘erroneous’ smart メーター reading.
We asked electrician マイク Redfern-Jones why this might be happening. He has been fitting electricity メーターs for four １０年間s, 含むing smart メーターs since they were introduced eight years ago.
Redfern-Jones, who is based in Denbigh, North むちの跡s, says: ‘There is no 推論する／理由 for the electric smart メーターs not to be 全く 正確な.
‘They 簡単に 手段 how many kilowatts of 力／強力にする are used in one hour using a 数字表示式の reader.
‘The microchip 回路・連盟 boards 任命する／導入するd should work perfectly without any 測定 variation.
‘It is only the 伝統的な 飛行機で行く-wheel style メーターs that 含む／封じ込める physical parts that might wear 負かす／撃墜する over many years where there might be a tiny discrepancy ? and even this can take １０年間s to show any differences. In my experience, older 装置s that go wrong tend to underestimate rather than 過大評価する usage.’
Energy 巨大（な）s appear to be taking advantage of old 支配するs 始める，決める out by the 政府’s former 国家の 測定 & 規則 Office laid out more than a １０年間 ago before smart メーターs were introduced.
It 明言する／公表するs: ‘Electricity メーターs are considered “正確な” if the permitted 利ざやs of error do not 越える +2.5 per cent to -3.5?per cent throughout the entire 負担 範囲 at which the メーター is designed to operate.’ For gas, the メーター variation 許すd is +3?per cent to -3 per cent.?
供給者s have been 引用するing this allowance when 顧客s query 法案s ? and 需要・要求するing up to £192 as a call-out 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 if they find that nothing is wrong with the メーター.
Smart メーター 顧客 Jon Walker, 73, of Warwickshire, says: ‘Perhaps we should all start 支払う／賃金ing 97?per cent of our gas and electricity 法案 to 戦闘 overcharging.’?
The retired engineer discovered his gas 法案 was rising last summer ? にもかかわらず turning off the gas.?
He called provider 爆撃する Energy (taken over by Octopus Energy last December) in June to 報告（する）／憶測 a fault with its メーターs that had 以前 worked 井戸／弁護士席 when 任命する／導入するd a year earlier.
‘I was told there was not hing wrong with the メーター and that if I called them out then there would be a £168 料金 if it was 設立する nothing was wrong with it,’ he says. ‘They 行為／法令／行動するd like いじめ（る）s.?
Overcharging 危険: 顧客s using smart メーターs can be 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金d 3% more on a 法案 or 3.5% いっそう少なく on a 法案 than the actual 量 used
So I got a gas engineer friend to turn off my gas for a couple of days. The メーター continued to show I was using gas. 爆撃する then （機の）カム and 取って代わるd the メーター for 解放する／自由な and the problem was solved.
‘最初, 爆撃する then 供給するd a £200 refund for 過大評価するing the 法案 ? but after I complained again, it magically recalculated and said I was 借りがあるd £450. I also got £150 補償（金）.’
Jon says his 年次の energy 法案 was typically £1,800 ? but was told 消費 was ‘だいたい six times the 量’ of the previous year 予定 to wrong メーター readings.
Had he not taken his own 測定s and called its bluff the 年一回の 法案 may have 急に上がるd to £10,800. No explanation was 供給するd for ‘erroneous readings’.
Jeremy Barrett, 83, is another 関心d about smart メーター 正確 ? にもかかわらず Octopus Energy telling him there is nothing wrong with his 器具／備品.
Overcharged: Artist Grayson Perry was stung with a £39,000 法案 by EDF Energy 予定 to an ‘erroneous’ smart メーター reading
The retired 安全 会社／堅い director from Wimbledon, south-west London, is one of those who must climb a ladder if he wishes to take his own readings.
‘にもかかわらず my requests, no one is 用意が出来ている to come and check that the smart electricity メーター is working 正確に ? but my 法案s have 二塁打d to up to £600 a month since the メーターs were 任命する／導入するd,’ he says.?
Jeremy, who was once a 発言する／表明する-over artist, says he was also not impressed when they sent him a complementary £60 electric 一面に覆う／毛布 as a ‘攻撃を受けやすい’ 顧客 ? rather than send someone out to see him.
He says: ‘I used to be in the SAS arm of the British Army. I don’t need tucking in.’
Octopu s Energy says it has received 正規の／正選手 readings remotely from his メーター since it was 任命する／導入するd in 2020. It 追加するs it has ‘checked his energy usage and can 確認する that it is in line with previous years’.
The £13.5billion rollout of smart メーターs began in 2016 and 35 million homes and 商売／仕事s have had one fitted. They account for 61 per cent of all メーターs used.
A 重要な 推論する／理由 energy 会社／堅いs are keen to 任命する／導入する smart メーターs is that it saves them money because they no longer have to come out and read 顧客 メーターs.
They also come with separate 手渡す-held 審査するs that let 顧客s see in 近づく-real time how much energy is 存在 used.
Octopus Energy said: ‘The 寛容 of an 正確な smart メーター is part of 国家の 法律制定 on smart メーターs ? and not just 明確な／細部 to us.’
EDF Energy said 正確 基準s are 始める，決める by Ofgem. British Gas said all its メーターs were 認可するd and certified by the Office of 製品 Safety & 基準s. Scottish 力／強力にする, Eon and Ovo Energy failed to 答える／応じる.
