Energy giants could use new smart meters to cut power to homes and force customers to pay their bill before turning it back on... as former energy minister reveals he got rid of his
Energy giants can use smart meters to cut the power supply to homes and force customers to pay their bill up front.
The Daily Mail can reveal that suppliers have the power to switch the new digital devices to a pre-payment setting without visiting the house.
This would force the homeowner to top up their account before they use any gas or electricity – and if their balance runs out, their power could automatically be shut off.
More than 11 million smart meters have been installed across the country as part of a national upgrade programme ordered by the Government.
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 gas and electricity they use.
Energy giants can use smart meters to cut the power supply to homes and force customers to pay their bill up front
The aim is to make bills more accurate and help customers save money by encouraging them to reduce their power consumption.
But experts warn 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.
Lily Green, of 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 pre-payment meters into people's homes – despite Ofgem warnings that they should only ever be used as a last resort.
'If they can switch someone to a pre-payment 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.'
This was obviously one of the motives for smart meters. Another was to surreptitiously Jack up rates by tweaking consumption algorithms, something not feasible with analog meters. I'm sure there are other nefarious purposes as yet undiscovered.
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