Hundreds of thousands of Electric Ireland, Bord Gáis and Energia customers saw incorrect meter readings showing they owed thousands from just days of usage
Smart metre next to an energy bill
A significant glitch resulted in a number of Irish households being informed they had used thousands of euros worth of electricity.
It’s understood that hundreds of thousands of individuals were affected by the error, as reported by the Irish Independent.
Customers of Electric Ireland, Bord Gáis Energy and Energia reported extraordinarily high meter readings, with several householders posting on the online discussion platform Reddit.
Many claimed their meters indicated they owed thousands in bills from just a few days of energy consumption.
Bord Gáis confirmed that a smart-metering issue affected its customers over the weekend.
Money on the radiator(Image: Getty Images)
“They are now in the process of issuing corrected replacement reads and these are expected to be provided before any bills are issued for the affected period, meaning no customers should be impacted,” stated Bord Gais.
The Bord Gáis website displays a message indicating the issue was affecting smart usage graphs, where unusually high usage was showing, reports RSVP Live
Energia acknowledged it was aware of a technical problem impacting the projected bill amounts for some of its smart meter customers.
“We are investigating the issue and advise customers with any questions to check our website and social media for the most up-to-date information,” Energia commented.
ESB Networks, which manages the operation of smart meters, issued incorrect meter data for the period from 6 to 8 March.
A spokesperson for ESB Networks explained that the issue was caused by an internal software problem on Friday.
“This is an internal software issue and is not related to the integrity of smart meters or the recorded energy use,” the spokesperson said. “We are in the process of identifying and resolving the issue in our systems and will systematically correct all affected data.”
ESB Networks stated that customers are not required to take any action at present. “We will automatically adjust metering data to reflect actual usage. We apologise for the confusion and concern this may have caused and are reviewing our processes to ensure this does not happen again.”
Smart meters are designed to enable customers to access comprehensive information and analysis of their energy consumption directly via the ESB Networks online account. Approximately four in five households have had a smart meter installed.
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