SSE Potential Overcharge

It seems that faulty electricity meters may have given rise to a situation where 16,000 customers of SSE have overpaid their energy bills.

Customers on 'Economy 10' tariffs may have paid too much because the meter clocks were set incorrectly.

SSE said a "manufacturing fault" with one batch of electricity meters could result in them incorrectly switching back an hour after a power cut in winter.

SSE is quoted by the Telegraph:

"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... estimates that a total of around 8,000 customers are likely to have been affected."

It also admitted a separate issue where meters had been "installed with the off-peak times set incorrectly for the customer’s supply distribution area". About 8,000 meters could also be affected by this problem.

SSE will now write to all customers who may have been affected to inspect their meters.