{"id":370124,"date":"2026-03-28T17:21:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T17:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/370124\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T17:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T17:21:23","slug":"esb-issue-smart-meter-update-after-households-incorrectly-told-they-owe-thousands-in-electricity-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/370124\/","title":{"rendered":"ESB issue smart meter update after households incorrectly told they owe thousands in electricity bills"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Customers of Electric Ireland, Bord G\u00e1is Energy and Energia claimed their meters indicated they owed thousands in bills from just a few days of energy consumption<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A significant glitch resulted in a number of Irish households being informed they had used thousands of euros worth of electricity\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_GettyImages-1230779755-1.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"A significant glitch resulted in a number of Irish households being informed they had used thousands of euros worth of electricity\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">A significant glitch resulted in a number of Irish households being informed they had used thousands of euros worth of electricity<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">ESB Networks have issued an update following a significant technical fault which resulted in a number of households receiving notifications that they had consumed thousands of euro worth of electricity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Customers with <a aria-label=\"Electric IrelandLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishmirror.ie\/all-about\/electric-ireland\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Electric Ireland<\/a>, <a aria-label=\"Bord G\u00e1is EnergyLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishmirror.ie\/all-about\/bord-gais-energy\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Bord G\u00e1is Energy<\/a>, and Energia <a aria-label=\"reported vastly inflated meter readings earlier this monthLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishmirror.ie\/news\/irish-news\/esb-apologises-after-high-incorrect-36849631\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">reported vastly inflated meter readings earlier this month<\/a>, with several homeowners sharing their experiences on online forum Reddit. Multiple users stated that their meters indicated they owed thousands in charges based on merely a few days&#8217; worth of energy consumption.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">ESB Networks, which manages smart meter operations, transmitted inaccurate meter data covering the period from March 6-8.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A view of the ESB Networks logo on a ESB van in Dublin city center, Ireland on February 15, 2023. (Photo by Artur Widak\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_ESB-Networks-Ireland.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"The ESB has said that the incorrect readings were caused by an \u201cinternal software issue\u201d following a \u201cplanned software upgrade\u201d\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The ESB has said that the incorrect readings were caused by an \u201cinternal software issue\u201d following a \u201cplanned software upgrade\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">An ESB Networks spokesperson confirmed the problem stemmed from an internal software malfunction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;This is an internal software issue and is not related to the integrity of smart meters or the recorded energy use,&#8221; the spokesperson said. &#8220;We are in the process of identifying and resolving the issue in our systems and will systematically correct all affected data.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">ESB have now acknowledged that rectifying normal information for a portion of impacted customers is proving &#8220;longer than originally anticipated,&#8221; reports <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rsvplive.ie\/news\/irish-news\/esb-update-after-thousands-consumers-36925046\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">RSVP Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">ESB Networks told the Irish Independent: &#8220;On Friday, March 6, a planned software upgrade to an ESB Networks internal system caused some customers&#8217; meter readings to be processed incorrectly, causing high and incorrect usage figures to be sent to all suppliers and to be displayed in customers&#8217; ESB Networks online account.&#8221; The organisation stated that &#8220;more than 99pc of the affected customers&#8217; usage data has now been corrected and we are aware that some suppliers have commenced billing&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;It is taking longer than we originally anticipated to restore normal information for the last 0.5pc,&#8221; they added. &#8220;When ESB Networks has completed the data correction for the remaining customers, that corrected data will be provided to suppliers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">However, despite the disruption caused, they have confirmed no compensation will be offered to those impacted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;While we understand the inconvenience caused, compensation does not apply in this circumstance,&#8221; they confirmed in their statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Smart metres are designed to enable customers to access comprehensive information and analysis of their energy consumption directly via the ESB Networks online portal. Approximately four in five households have had a smart metre fitted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Want to see more of the stories you love from the Irish Mirror? <a aria-label=\"Making us your preferred source on GoogleLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=irishmirror.ie\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Making us your preferred source on Google<\/a> means you\u2019ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away. To add Irish Mirror as a preferred source, simply <a aria-label=\"click hereLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=irishmirror.ie\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Customers of Electric Ireland, Bord G\u00e1is Energy and Energia claimed their meters indicated they owed thousands in bills&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[15457,72,12613,580,27800,61,60],"class_list":["post-370124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bord-gais-energy","tag-business","tag-electric-ireland","tag-energy","tag-esb","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}