government will miss smart meter deadline, watchdog warns - smart

According to the National Audit Office, the government's installation of smart meters by its deadline "has no real prospect "(NAO).
The public account regulator has joined a group of voices --
Including advice from a group of members and citizens
That is to say, the goal is impossible to achieve.
Every family in the UK should have a smart meter
Avoiding the need for customer reading-by 2020.
However, the government insists it will honor its commitments.
NAO also said that nearly 1 million smart meters are no longer working properly, while the number of meters in the coldest areas of the UK is the least.
According to NAO, in order to catch the deadline, installers will need to replace 39 million old meters in the next two years.
In contrast, only 12 million has been replaced in the past six years.
Which consumer group was earlier this week?
To achieve this, the industry needs to install 30 m units per minute in the next two years, he said.
The company says less than 10 devices are currently installed.
The government says the goal of installing 400,000 M units per month is achievable.
"Millions of people have chosen smart meters and controlled their energy use to cut their bills," said energy minister Claire Perry . ".
"We have already said that by the end of 2020, everyone will receive smart meters to get these benefits and we will fulfill this commitment.
"The British energy company, which represents the company that installed the meter, told the BBC that it would not speculate on the feasibility of reaching the deadline.
Smart meters are designed to save consumers money because it is said to encourage householders to use less electricity.
Because they can be read remotely, the industrial cost is also low.
They also enable consumers to use cheaper tariffs by using electricity at night or a weekends.
Four years ago, the Ministry of Commerce, Energy And Industry Strategy estimated that they would save about £ 26 a year for consumers.
However, NAO said that the cost of installing them has increased, and now it saves less than £ 11 a year for consumers.
Earlier, a group of members made similar estimates during the summer.
In any case, the National Audit Office said the government had failed to monitor the actual savings of households.
The first generation of smart meters does not necessarily continue to work if the customer changes the supplier.
About 70% of people, according to NAO, "become stupid ".
The second generation design is more flexible, but only 109,000 M is installed.
NAO said that due to changes in suppliers, 943,000 first-generation meters have now stopped working at full capacity.
NAO said that the functions of smart meters still need to be improved.
For example, it says they don't work in a home with a very thick wall, which may block the phone signal needed to transmit data.
The company also said that the country's coldest areas are least likely to have smart meters installed, although there is greater demand in those areas.
By June, Scotland and northern England had installed only 3,000 m of second-generation electricity meters, compared with 106,000 m in the rest of the UK.