07-08-2022, 05:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-08-2022, 05:07 PM by awakened53.)
It was a scam from the start: Smart meters ‘scandal’ warning with millions spent on ‘useless’ devices
Consumers have been encouraged to install smart meters in recent years, to allow them to monitor energy use in real time and potentially save money amid the cost-of-living crisis. But many have raised concerns that the devices are not working due to an unreliable signal, or are rendered useless if they switch providers, the Express reports.
One woman wrote to the Guardian last month to complain her Shell Energy smart meter had become “strangely uncommunicative” shortly before gas prices soared in April – and hundreds of other smart meter users reported similar problems.
John Curtis, who manages a residential estate, said: “Smart meters are an absolute scandal – millions were spent, yet the majority here are now useless. We have to read almost all of them and are frequently required to provide dated photographs for all phases plus the total, on each meter – sometimes four photos for each reading – since the power companies don’t trust customers to provide accurate readings.
“Another example of taxpayers’ money wasted on a government fantasy, with unproven technology rolled out nationwide with an almost entirely negative result. The money would have been better spent continuing to employ meter readers instead of devolving this increasingly irksome task to customers.”
Read More: Smart meters ‘scandal’ warning with millions spent on ‘useless’ devices
Consumers have been encouraged to install smart meters in recent years, to allow them to monitor energy use in real time and potentially save money amid the cost-of-living crisis. But many have raised concerns that the devices are not working due to an unreliable signal, or are rendered useless if they switch providers, the Express reports.
One woman wrote to the Guardian last month to complain her Shell Energy smart meter had become “strangely uncommunicative” shortly before gas prices soared in April – and hundreds of other smart meter users reported similar problems.
John Curtis, who manages a residential estate, said: “Smart meters are an absolute scandal – millions were spent, yet the majority here are now useless. We have to read almost all of them and are frequently required to provide dated photographs for all phases plus the total, on each meter – sometimes four photos for each reading – since the power companies don’t trust customers to provide accurate readings.
“Another example of taxpayers’ money wasted on a government fantasy, with unproven technology rolled out nationwide with an almost entirely negative result. The money would have been better spent continuing to employ meter readers instead of devolving this increasingly irksome task to customers.”
Read More: Smart meters ‘scandal’ warning with millions spent on ‘useless’ devices