Why you should say no to getting a smart meter 

 The controversial devices are being rolled out to every home .

 By Will Kirkman 11 February 2022 • 12:24pm 

 The cons of buying a smart meter that everyone should be aware of Millions of homes will be forced to have smart meters installed in the coming years but the controversial devices, which will soon share information with your supplier every 30 minutes, come with a lot of drawbacks. The national rollout, which will see energy suppliers offer smart meters to all homes by the end of 2025, has proved hugely unpopular. Under the plans revealed by The Telegraph, knowing exactly when they use energy will mean families can change habits and use more when energy costs less. However, smart meters will allow energy firms to increase prices at peak periods. This will mean those who cannot be flexible will pay more, just as with commuting. 

 Every household will, ultimately, pay for the new meters via their bills. As energy companies are quick to say, this is one reason why bills are rising. Smart meters could make it harder to switch gas and electricity providers Early adopters of smart meters got a nasty shock when they later tried to switch energy provider. Some of the "first generation" smart meters fitted in households are currently incompatible with a new national communications network – which is how your usage data is transmitted to your energy provider. 

 Meters not connected to this system become "dumb" when consumers switch suppliers, meaning their new smart meters are no better than the old-fashioned ones. Customers would have to submit readings manually as before – something which can actually be more difficult with a "smart-meter-turned-dumb" than a traditional meter. Though these issues should not affect new smart meter users, they are indicative of the problems that have plagued the rollout. 

 These meters are being enrolled onto a national network to fix the problem, however nearly one in five smart meters is operating in ‘dumb’ mode. On top of this some in-home displays, which show a customer how much energy they are using, have ceased to work once the meters have been enrolled onto the network. Energy firms were supposed to stop rolling out first-generation devices in March 2019. Despite this, energy firms installed 57,499 outdated meters in the six months to March 2021, according to auto-switching site Switchcraft. Another issue is that many existing devices will need to be upgraded, after the Government and mobile phone providers announced plans to phase out the networks used by existing devices by 2033. This will render many current meters obsolete, requiring upgrades by engineers. The meters transmit data to a national network via “communications hubs”. 

In Wales and central and southern England, they use 2G and 3G mobile networks. The Government has confirmed these networks will be phased out. You might miss out on the best deals Traditionally, the best energy deals have not been available to smart meter users. Prior to the gas price crisis, only one in six deals were available for smart meter users. This is now less of an issue given the majority of households are on their supplier's default tariff with prices protected by the price cap. However, at some point energy firms will introduce smart meter tariffs that will cut household bills by varying electricity costs throughout the day. 

 “Time of use” tariffs drop the price of electricity when demand is low and increase the cost in times of high usage. However, currently only Octopus Energy offers this type of deal. The policy on smart meters was first championed by former Labour leader Ed Miliband – and later by the Tories – as a way of reducing Britain's energy use. They had been popular in Europe for this reason. However, some argue that there is no real evidence to back up the claim that the smart meter could revolutionise our energy habits. Others claim the cost of the rollout itself, which has suffered several setbacks, will negate any savings made as it is ultimately paid for by consumers. 

The rollout was initially costed at £11bn. At that cost, the rollout would have added £374 to every household’s energy bills, according to Simply Switch. However, the final bill is likely to be far higher than this figure. Everyone will pay for this – even those with traditional meters. Data privacy concerns still weigh heavy The chief concern of smart meter critics, besides the cost, is the potential privacy concerns that come with a household’s data being transmitted to a supplier. 

Energy firms are adamant that only they can see your data and that information cannot be passed on to a third party without the customer’s explicit permission. Such fears will worsen as households are asked to share their usage data every 30 minutes. According to Opus Energy, a provider, not even the DCC, the network operator, can read a customer’s electricity data, as it is encrypted before it reaches them. 

 According to a Privacy Charter drawn up by the Energy UK trade body however, the supplier trade body, organisations that your supplier has contracts with may be given access to the information collected from your meter. It also stated in some certain circumstances the police or other organisations, including industry bodies involved in preventing and detecting theft or fraud, could be given access to your data in accordance with data protection law. Although smart meters send meter readings to your energy supplier, they do not store your name, address or bank details. Can you refuse a smart meter? Smart meters are not mandatory and bill payers can refuse to have the devices installed, and you can do this indefinitely. However, energy companies can force customers to replace their current meter if it is deemed a safety hazard or is no longer functioning correctly. Consumers who already have a smart meter can ask for the device to be removed at any time. However, supplier can charge customers a fee to cover this cost.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/why-smart-meters-bad-safe-should-say-no-2022-pro-con/