by Sam Tobin

A BIG SIX energy provider has apologised to customers after faulty smart meters displayed charges of around £33,000 for just one day’s worth of fuel, it was revealed yesterday.

SSE has launched an investigation into the devices — which the government wants to be rolled-out to every home over the coming years — after receiving complaints on their official Twitter account from Friday.

Reverend Mark Umpleby, from Batley in West Yorkshire, posted a photo of his meter that showed he was apparently nearly three million per cent over his daily budget.

The so-called smart meter quoted an eye-watering £33,183 of gas in 24 hours — which is 2,765,175 per cent over budget. The following day’s meter reading came to a more reasonable £27,022. The average annual bill for a medium-sized home is around £830.

Rev Umpleby tweeted: “Prices certainly gone up if my smart meter is accurate on my gas use over last few days! Like it warm but…”

Another customer, Usman Hussain, tweeted a picture of his meter that showed he would be charged nearly £9,600 for one day’s worth of electricity and gas.

An SSE spokesman said: “The issue will be investigated as a matter of urgency and no customer will be charged the extra amounts resulting from errors with the smart meters.

“We would like to apologise to any customers if this has caused distress.”

Smart meters are supposed to communicate directly with energy suppliers and allow customers to monitor their energy use in real-time to eliminate inaccurate estimated billing.

The government is aiming for the devices to be installed in every home in Britain by 2020, with latest figures showing there are 4.9 million meters in homes and businesses across the country so far.