Smart Meters Getting Poor Reviews in U.K. After "Aggressive Rollout"

By B.N. Frank

Opposition to utility “Smart” Meters – electric, gas, and water – is worldwide due to a variety of reasons. Because they are 2-way wireless transmitting, they allow utility companies to remotely control electricity as well as ration customer energy use. They can’t do that with traditional one-way transmitting analog meters. Research has determined that energy savings from these devices is minimal. A 2017 study determined that 9 of the most commonly installed “Smart” Meters had measurement errors up to 582% (see 1, 2).

“Smart” Meters are privacy invasive and at a high risk for cybersecurity issues. Additionally, they have been associated with HIGHER bills, fires (see 1, 2, 3), explosions, and health problems (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14) which have led to lawsuits (see 1, 2). Many utility companies now offer “opt out” programs because of all the complaints. Nevertheless, proponents continue to promote these devices as beneficial to customers. Awkward.

From Energy Central:

I recently came across this article on smart meters on a British finance website. The article paints a pretty damning picture of the way smart meters have been incentivized on the isles. Most notably, the author points out that another website’s review showed that non-smart meter households had their choice of 186 tariff plans while smart meter users had just 37. On average, smart meter tariff plans are just 18 pounds cheaper than their dumb meter counterparts.

The UK, for those who don’t know, has been pursuing an aggressive smart meter rollout for some years now. Originally, the entire nation was supposed to be on smart meters by 2020, but that goal has been pushed back. There have been a number of hiccups during the effort that have slowed progress. Perhaps most notoriously, a few million smart meters have lost their smart abilities over the years after their owners switched services.

Activist Post reports regularly about utility “Smart” Meters and other unsafe technology. For more information, visit our archives and the following websites: