OREANDA-NEWS. SSE has today announced that it will launch a nationwide campaign to ensure that all customers on Economy 10 (E10) have accurately functioning meters and have been billed correctly.

E10 meters provide customers with ten hours of off-peak electricity split into three blocks over 24 hours, enabling them to benefit from lower rates for their heating and hot water during off-peak times.

However, due to a manufacturing fault associated with an identified batch of electricity meters, it has become apparent that in some instances a power supply interruption can cause the meter clock to move back by an hour when the power comes back on. The fault can only occur where the meter clock is programmed to switch between GMT and BST and the power cut happens during GMT (British winter time).

For customers timing their electricity consumption in order to benefit from off-peak rates, this could mean that some of these units would be charged at the normal rate rather than the off-peak rate. SSE has been in contact with the manufacturer as well as carrying out its own analysis to determine the potential impact on its E10 customers, and estimates that a total of around 8,000 customers are likely to have been affected.

A separate issue has also been identified where a number of E10 meters may have been installed with the off-peak times set incorrectly for the customer's supply distribution area. Again, around 8,000 meters could be affected.

Whenever an individual meter clock discrepancy has been identified in the past, SSE has replaced the meter free of charge, recalculated and back-dated the customer's charges to ensure they have not overpaid.

But now, to ensure that no customer is negatively impacted, SSE is committing to check all meters which have the potential to have developed a fault. It is therefore writing to any customer who may have been affected to arrange to inspect their meter. If the meter clock is incorrect, SSE will repair or replace the meter and recalculate the customer's charges to make sure that, to the best of its ability, they are not left out of pocket.

It is not possible to calculate accurately what a customer's exact usage split between peak and off-peak units would have been if the meter had been working normally, so SSE will recalculate the charges based on the assumption that 70% of the customer's units were used off-peak. Typically SSE's E10 meter customers use around 50% off their electricity off-peak, so this recalculation method should work out favourably for the vast majority of customers who are affected by the fault.

SSE's Head of Customer Service, Jacqui Maxwell, said: “SSE wants to make sure that all of its customers are billed correctly for the energy they use, so we're committing to check each and every meter that could be affected by a manufacturing fault, replacing it if necessary and recalculating the charges for as long as the meter has been in place to ensure that no customer loses out. When working correctly, E10 meters can be very beneficial for customers. This proactive approach will help give all our E10 customers peace of mind.”