Tom Thorp, chief executive of Foresight Metering, a company that rents meters to suppliers, said: "There have been some issues found when operating the IT systems, meters and communications hubs in the live environment that weren't encountered in testing.
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Another million substandard smart meters will be put into our homes
Another million substandard smart meters will be put into our homes
The rollout of fully-functional smart meters has been further delayed after "teething issues" with the system.
This week, the Government announced that the deadline by which energy suppliers must stop installing first-generation smart meters would be pushed back. More than half of these meters lose many of their functions when a customer switches provider.
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The two-month delay means almost a million more of the substandard meters will be installed, bringing the total number above 13 million.
The new type of meter, which will be connected to a national communications network to allow easy switching between energy providers, was initially supposed to be widely used from July. But that date has twice been pushed back and, so far, only about 26,000 have been installed, according to figures from industry analysts ElectraLink.
The delay was expected, but was only officially announced this week.
"Due to the current spotlight on energy suppliers around safety, pricing and the customer experience, meters are being replaced as a precaution."
Mr Thorp said these were likely to be early installations, many of which would have been given to friends and family of suppliers.
Read more at The Telegraph.