Smart meters 'a costly mistake' and an 'IT disaster waiting to happen' - Institute of Directors

Institute of Directors claims that smart meters will lead to a spike in gas and electricity prices to pay for the project

Smart meters are a costly mistake and an IT disaster waiting to happen, according to a new report from the Institute of Directors (IoD) - exactly the same conclusion that Computing came to in an investigatory feature 15 months ago.

The forthright report comes after the government's Major Projects Authority has conducted three assessments into the much-criticised smart metering scheme - but refused to publish the results, citing "commercial confidentiality".

The IoD described the scheme as "the most expensive and complex smart meter programme in the world" and criticised the "staggering" risks inherent in the rollout. It added: "The pace of technological innovation may well leave the current generation of meters behind and leave consumers in a cycle of installation, de-installation and re-installation."

It called for an immediate halt in the smart gas meter rollout, claiming that the benefits are minimal, as well as removing the requirement for a proprietary in-home display when users could simply log-on to their supplier's system or connect using an app on their smartphone or PC.

It also suggested that the rollout should focus on homes with a high energy usage and abandon plans to fit them in flats and tower blocks, where the costs of installation will be greatest.

The current programme, which foresees utilities introducing "intelligent metering", will involve the installation of 27 million new electricity meters, 23 million gas meters, 27 million proprietary in-home displays and 27 million communications hubs to enable data from smart meters to be transmitted to utilities.

The smart metering programme was mandated by a 2009 EU directive - 2009/72/EC - following the Energy Act of 2008, and re-iterated by the coalition government elected in May 2010. However, although the details have only now been finalised and contracts signed, little headway has so far been made in terms of installation.

Furthermore, the costs of the UK's programme are already twice the cost of smart metering programmes planned in Italy and Spain, and the costs will ultimately be picked up by consumers.

The report comes against a backdrop of widespread cynicism over the public sector's ability to implement major IT projects effectively and within budget.

"Over the years, the ambition and scale of government IT projects has not been matched by appropriate management and planning," claimed the IoD, adding: "British business leaders appear to be broadly negative about government's ability to deliver successful IT projects. A recent survey of IoD membership revealed 80 per cent of members perceive it to be either ‘poor' or ‘very poor'," concluded the report.