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.
