HOUSEHOLD METERING
ENERGY giants can use smart meters to cut the power supply to homes and force customers to pay their bill up front.
It is now known that suppliers have the power to switch the new digital devices to a prepayment setting without visiting the house.
This would force the occupier to top up their account before they use any gas or electricity – and if their balance runs out, their power could automatically be cut off.
More than 11million smart meters have been installed across the country as part of a national upgrade programme ordered by the Government.
. See also Smart Meters and the ‘hidden agenda’
The new meters automatically send readings to suppliers as often as every half an hour and show customers in pounds and pence exactly how much energy they use.
The aim is to make bills more accurate and help customers save money by encouraging them to reduce their power consumption. Experts warn, however, that smart meters give firms unprecedented power over their customers, including access to reams of data about how and when customers use energy and the ability to control a customer’s supply remotely.
Major energy companies said they had not yet used the feature, but admitted it was possible.
A spokesperson for auto-switching service Look After My Bills, said: “Suppliers now have a frightening level of power to hit customers in the pocket. In the past, the Big Six have proven far too eager to force expensive prepayment meters into people’s homes – despite warnings from OFGEM that they should only ever be used as a last resort.
“If they can switch someone to a prepayment meter with a flick of a switch whenever they choose, this is very worrying for families across the country already struggling with unfair price rises.”
A prepayment meter works like a pay-as-you-go mobile phone in that customers have to top it up with credit before they can use any power.
They are most commonly found in households where the homeowner or occupier is struggling financially, because they provide a better means of controlling how much is spent on energy.
Energy firms said that one of the benefits of new smart meters is that they can switch a meter from prepayment to the more popular credit setting remotely.
Energy watchdog OFGEM has strict rules on when suppliers can force customers to have a prepayment meter.
It is supposed to be a last resort when recovering debt, and suppliers should put households on to repayment plans first.
Currently, power companies need a warrant to install a prepayment meter against a customer’s wishes because they need access to their property. But if suppliers can switch someone’s meter remotely it would remove the need to go through the courts.
Under OFGEM rules energy firms would still have to show they had done everything possible to avoid forcing someone to have a prepayment meter and take steps to ensure that any vulnerable customers are protected.
An OFGEM spokesman said: “For suppliers that are considering if it is appropriate to offer prepayment to smart meter customers, the same rules apply as for those on traditional meters.
“Suppliers must be clear in their communications and establish that prepayment is practical and affordable for a customer. OFGEM would take any breach of these rules by a supplier very seriously.”
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