Nearly one million faulty smart meters were installed in British homes last year

Almost one million faulty smart meters were installed last year.

Energy firms fitted 900,000 old devices, which caused problems for customers when they tried to switch supplier, after the cut-off date for their use.

Firms were told to switch to the newer smart meters from March last year after the original version proved faulty.

Smart meters are meant to encourage people to reduce their energy consumption by allowing them to track their energy use in real time in their homes – but millions of first-generation meters lost this capability when people switched energy supplier.

There was also a fall in the number of smart meters installed last year, from 4.7 million devices in 2018 to 4.5 million, according to The Telegraph.

The figures are the latest fiasco in the £13.5billion roll-out of the devices which is far behind schedule and £2.5billion over budget.

Last year ministers were warned that their target for 85 per cent of homes to have a smart meter by 2024 had no prospect of being met.

The deadline had already been delayed by four years after the Government had to revise its target for every home to have a smart meter by 2020 amid mounting concerns about technical problems and suppliers’ attempts to promote them.

Peter Earl, an energy expert at switching site Compare the Market, said smart meters often do not live up to their ‘smart’ billing.

‘In reality, energy suppliers have been notoriously slow to start installing the newest generation of meters, leaving many consumers saddled with outdated technology,’ he said.

‘Energy consumers shouldn’t have to choose between a smart meter that works and switching to a better value tariff, but that is the unhappy predicament many undoubtedly face.’