Smart meters

If you're a Scottish Power smart meter customer, you're likely to be paying 5% more than it shows on your linked monitor – also known as your 'in-home display' (IHD) – new research from MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) reveals, so check now.

Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho has responded to calls from MoneySavingExpert.com (MSE) founder Martin Lewis to address high standing charges, fix broken smart meters and tackle the lack of competition in energy switching.

British Gas is extending its offer of half-price electricity on Sundays for some smart meter customers until April 2024. It's part of the energy firm's 'PeakSave' scheme and is a no-brainer for those who can get it. But you should still keep an eye out for cheaper fixed deals, as they could save you more in the long-term.

Two of the largest energy firms in Britain, British Gas and Ovo, are still unable to confirm they'll let smart prepay customers use their £400 energy support payments on both electricity AND gas – despite gas being crucial for many people's heating this winter. As the second Government payment of £66 starts hitting meters, MoneySavingExpert.com is once again calling on these firms to let their customers decide how best to use it.

MoneySavingExpert.com is calling on some of the biggest energy firms to make it possible for prepay customers with smart meters to use their £400 energy support payments on both electricity AND gas, as it's the gas meter that's crucial for many people's heating this winter. It is unfair – and potentially unsafe – not to let smart prepay users decide how to use the payment. See our round-up of what each company allows below.

Big six energy supplier SSE has agreed to pay £700,000 to Ofgem after missing its 2018 targets for installing smart meters. 

Energy supplier Utilita is facing a ban on taking on new customers after installing old first generation smart meters that often don't work when households switch.

Small energy firm Avro Energy has been banned from taking on new customers because it hasn't joined the national smart meter network.

A 'misleading' radio advert which claimed installing a smart meter could save consumers an average of 354 kilowatt hours (kWh) a year has been banned.

The Government's target for energy companies to offer smart meters to everyone in England, Scotland and Wales by the end of 2020 won't be met, the public spending watchdog has warned – and the roll-out is likely to cost more than expected. An investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) has found technical problems are hampering the roll-out, with around 70% of first generation SMETS 1 smart meters going 'dumb' after customers switch. Some 943,000 meters are now thought to have lost their smart functionality, and are unable to communicate with their owner's new energy supplier. The NAO also found that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's assumption that the roll-out would cost £11 billion – the equivalent of £374 per dual fuel household – "underestimates the true cost of rolling out smart meters". Costs have risen by at least £500 million since that estimate was made in 2016, the equivalent of an extra £17 per household. For full help on how smart meters work and the pros and cons, see our Smart Meters guide. Most smart meters go 'dumb' if households switch Smart gas and electricity meters give automatic meter readings which are sent straight to your supplier, theoretically ending estimated bills. There are two types of smart meters: First generation SMETS 1 meters have already been installed in over 12.5 million homes. However, they frequently stop working when customers switch supplier. Newer SMETS 2 meters don't have that problem – you can switch and be sure that your meter will remain smart. However, earlier this week it emerged that just 138,000 of these have been installed so far. The NAO found that the roll-out of SMETS 2 meters continues to face major challenges. Energy firms aren't currently able to install SMETS 2 meters in around a third of households in Great Britain, with the technology that links SMETS 2 meters to suppliers still not fully developed in some parts of the country.  The NAO said suppliers installed seven million more SMETS 1 meters than planned after the Government underestimated how long it would take to implement the infrastructure and technical standards for SMETS 2 meters.  The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy had planned to resolve the problem by connecting SMETS 1 meters to updated infrastructure, but this project has been delayed and the NAO said it is not certain if it will work as intended.