Our Ebola just landed in England for a tour after a couple of years in Germany. His first few days have been the usual tumult of Air Force ineptitude coupled with adapting to another completely different country. As I've been knee-deep in England's self-induced energy challenges for going on a couple of years now, and the kiddo has to start house hunting this weekend, I've been kind of worried about what it's going to cost him to stay warm next winter. At least in Germany he had one of those uber-efficient and relatively affordable wood-burning stacks that will heat the whole house.

"Relatively affordable" utilities are going to be a challenge with everything the British are forcing their citizens into.

This is particularly true when it seems there are serious glitches in the monitoring systems for all their various heating and electrical schemes and little recourse if the equipment is busted. 

Man, I hated sending this to him yesterday but forewarned is forearmed, and at least he'll know what to watch out for.

An 87-year-old woman lived in an "icy cold" home all winter because she was so afraid of high bills caused by a suspected faulty smart meter.

Diana Bowen resorted to living in one small room within the house, with a portable heater and electric blanket in order to keep warm.

Despite this, she continued to pay the gas bills of hundreds of pounds a month for her home in Llangynwyd, near Bridgend, because she was "scared" of the consequences.

Her supplier Octopus Energy said Mrs Bowen’s old and new meters "have been working correctly" and her energy usage was in line with previous years, but it had now replaced her old meter and cleared her remaining debt.

The poor lady first noticed that things weren't necessarily in synch when her June gas bill hit £600. Of course, she called the company who assured her the smart meter was smart enough to be working correctly, but if she insisted, they'd send someone out to check.

The thing is that it would be an extra £200 charge if the meter was working properly and the company had wasted their time on a service call.

Well, she's already out a small fortune, looking at another potential ding and said "Forget it."

And as the bills mounted, she eventually wound up walling herself up in one room to save money and energy, with only a dinky little electric heater for warmth.

..."I hate it. I’ve been comfortable in my home all my life, but suddenly… it’s like I’m being controlled by a computer," she said.

"I’m sure there must be people worse off than me in many instances. I’m very fortunate because I’m a bit tenacious and I have taken them on.

The lights finally came on for her son - and how lucky to have family, as so many older folks don't - who noticed black mold beginning to grow in the cold rooms. He had a case of "Mother, what the hell are you doing?" and that's when she freaked out.

..."I said ‘Mam, you can’t live like this, you’ve got to put the heating on’, and she point-blank refused," he said.

"Anyone who’s got an elderly mother like my mother will know how determined people are, and how terrified people are of the bill."

Her energy company, Octopus, is still insisting her meters were working correctly, but the founder admits to the company having real problems with older meters like, um hers.

I'd be delighted, thanks. It worked perfectly until the end of July then only displayed gas usage. After 2 engineer visits and a replacement electricity meter, I now have no gas usage displaying 🤷🏼‍♂️

— Alan Hush 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇺 🇫🇷 (@hushy1) January 25, 2024

Now, they sure are tap-dancing to clear the publicity wreckage, including continuing to "investigate"—aka code for CYA. Out of the kindness of their corporate hearts, they've also gifted the lovely old lady an electric blanket (!)...

[INSERT MONTY PYTHON VOICE: Ooooh, very nice!]

...and - imagine that - brand new meters to replace the "working perfectly" ones.

WELL, HUH.

...In a statement, Octopus Energy said although both Mrs Bowen’s old and new meters "have been working correctly", they would do additional testing on the device.

"To ensure that Diana does not worry about using her heating in the meantime, we have wiped her £305 account debt to put her back on a zero balance," said a spokesperson.

The company has offered Mrs Bowen an electric blanket, and a new Octopus Home Mini device to measure energy usage which it said "is more reliable" than in-home devices (IHD) found in other homes.

Smart meters in all their guises in the UK are being exposed as one big boondoggle and consumer trap. In the first place, anyone who's ever had an argument about faulty readings with a local utility knows that 98% of the time, you lose. You also know how frustrating it is to get accounts straight when you prove you're right. Now throw in the fact that these are all high-tech connected to this, that, and the other interfaces, and schmaybe you're a frightened 87-year-old widow with no one near barely existing on a tiny pension.

Well, the potential for fraud and disaster is huge, especially in a country that already has astronomical rates.

It would be hugely helpful if the smart meters were reliable to begin with.

Almost four million smart meters in Great Britain are not working properly.

According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (Desnez), 2.7 million were not operating in smart mode as of June 2023. It has since revised this figure to 4.31 million, citing reporting errors from a minority of suppliers.

At the end of last year, 3.98 million were faulty.

Energy UK, the trade association for the energy industry, says suppliers must replace broken meters.

It's sure an effective way to cull the older generation, isn't it? Or is that just my cynic showing? 

If you can't freeze them to death, you frighten them into the grave. I mean, it's right up that Mathusian climate cult/population control alley.

...Peta Butler, 79, lives near Tunbridge Wells. Between January and June 2023 her energy bill went up to over £3,500, leaving her "terrified" to use electricity.

Her son said the problems began when she was changed to a smart meter on a single tariff, in 2022. The new meter was not recorded properly and she kept getting estimated bills based on her old meter.

And it's always "a gesture of goodwill" that these companies grudgingly remove the wrongly charged balance from these accounts, sometimes after years of effort.

...Dianne Green, 75, from East Sussex, has been having issues with her smart meter since she was taken on by British Gas in April 2022, when her previous company went bust.

She said her online account showed she was using roughly £60 per month, but British Gas wanted to put her direct debit up to £169 per month.

Mrs Green said her physical disabilities meant she couldn’t reach the electricity meter to get manual readings. She currently pays £95 a month, but the last bill showed she was over £600 in debit.

“I’m in debt all the time, and I’m paying,” she added.

“It’s very upsetting, and it’s very worrying. You’re constantly thinking of trying to find ways of putting it right. It does make you ill. It makes you frightened."

Mrs Green has been waiting for two years for her problems to be fixed. British Gas said it sent an engineer around on Monday to ensure it is set to provide single rate smart meter readings.

"Going forward she will receive accurate bills and won’t need to provide us with manual meter readings. We’re very sorry that we did not fix this for her sooner and as goodwill we’ve removed the outstanding balance on her account,” it said.

"As goodwill"?! The nerve of these crooks!

Blaming "connectivity issues" is the next fallback excuse for these companies.

That's still the utilities' problem, but how to prove it? They've got you coming and going.

The last link also has some hints about how to monitor meters, but good Lord - talk about a lot to do.

How many Mrs. Greens and Butlers are getting totally rolled by the "smart" in their homes?