Unveiled: New £200 'smart' meters every household must pay for (but may not work)

Daily Mail

A Government plan to put ‘smart meters’ into every British home – costing households £200 each – will be launched this week despite fears they will not work and that they pose a security risk to power supplies.

The £11 billion project, introduced to meet EU green targets, is supposed to cut down energy consumption and reduce bills.

But official reports seen by The Mail on Sunday reveal that: trials show consumers with smart meters save far less energy than predicted; five countries considering such a plan have decided it would cost more money than it saves; the meters do not work in a third of British homes, including high-rise flats, basements and those in rural areas: hackers and cyber-terrorists could break into the system  causing chaos in the national grid, or carry out large-scale fraud by fiddling bills.

Energy companies will begin the mass installation of smart meters next year at a cost of at least £200 per home, and have admitted the expense will be passed on to customers."