As calls for curbs on global oil and gas production intensified at the COP 28 environmental summit further evidence emerged last week of the failure of a key initiative to address the demand side of the equation, which has provided a boon for financiers.

The drive to have all households and small firms fitted with smart meters has been a centre piece of the energy efficiency effort for more than a decade. Cheesy adverts featuring an Einstein caricature are being used to help underline the devices’ value.

Smart meters are meant to help households achieve big savings by using the real-time information they provide on usage to curb wasteful use of power-hungry systems and gadgets.

However, the latest official figures on the uptake of smart meters, which were released last week, suggest that millions of householders remain unconvinced of their benefits.

The Smart Meters in Britain quarterly update shows that only around 60% of the 56 million meters used by households and small businesses at 30 September were smart or advanced.

That leaves the take-up rate woefully short of the target set in 2011 for all households and small businesses to have meters fitted by the end of 2019.

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The report may overstate the number of smart meters in use. Some of those fitted are actually operating in traditional mode. The number concerned was not included in the report due to a "data quality" issue.

The drive to increase take up appears to be flagging despite Einstein’s efforts.

The number of meters installed in the third quarter, 854,500, was down 6% on the same time last year. The number of........

© Herald Scotland