AROUND 27,000 ESB customers have received letters informing them that faulty meters may have caused them to be overcharged.
ESB says these meters will be replaced and tested and anyone who was overcharged will be refunded.
In a statement the company said:
ESB Networks advises all customers that they do not have to take any action with their meters. ESB Networks will contact all affected customers and test the meters.
Speaking on Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1 Bernadette Maloney from ESB Networks said:
“It’s a particular kind of meter, it’s an electronic meter. The power supply to the meter causes the cover on the capacitor to degrade and it becomes more porous and allows moisture into the capacitor.
“The effect is the power is reduced to the meter and then the meter overreads.
It’s a specific batch of meters, they were installed between 2007 and 2008 … they were installed predominantly in apartment buildings, but not just.
“These meters were perfectly fine when they were put in, it’s over time they degraded.
“We expect that 10% of these meters will have failed so they are the only ones that will be getting a refund.”
She said the process could take up to several months. However she added that there is no safety issue and customers won’t lose their supply – the meter just stops reading.
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