Utility Week – Smart meter rollout could ‘destroy trust and confidence’, warns ENW boss

The rollout of smart meters to energy customers in the UK “has the capacity to destroy trust and confidence” in the sector, according to the chief executive of Electricity North West.

[SSM! UK editor’s note: Since we introduced our Notice serving facility in 2012, Mr Johnson has received more than 2,500 emails from individuals and businesses across the UK highlighting the concerns people have about ‘smart’ meters and their huge risks.  He has obviously taken those messages on board.]

Speaking last night at the Utility Week Lobby event at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Steve Johnson warned: “It’s got a real capacity to cause difficulty and is something I’m concerned about. It has a huge capacity to go wrong.”

He added: “The complexity of what’s going to be done is huge and this has a huge capacity to destroy trust and confidence.”

His view was supported by the Ombudsman Services’ chief ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith, who told delegates it is going to be a “very rough ride between now and the end of the rollout”.

He stated the fact that it is a retailer led rollout will make the programme less efficient, but also stated that the number of complaints during the rollout is likely to spike.

“The point where people make a complaint is when they get a new meter. They get a final meter read when they get a new meter and there’s a real inconsistency.

Read more: Utility Week – Smart meter rollout could ‘destroy trust and confidence’, warns ENW boss