Smart meters can overbill by 582%

A team from the University of Twente and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences have published a paper demonstrating gross overbillings by smart energy meters, ranging from -32% to +582% of actual power consumption.

Ironically, the overbilling is largely an artifact of power-saving features, which introduce line-noise that confuses the meters.

Overall, five of the nine smart meters gave out readings much higher than the actual amount of power consumed, while two gave lower readings. The greatest inaccuracies were seen when researchers combined dimmers with energy saving light bulbs and LED bulbs. After finishing their lab experiment, researchers dismantled the smart meters to understand the problem. Following their efforts, the three-man research team discovered that smart meters which gave abnormally high readings used a Rogowski Coil in their setup, while the smart meters that gave out low readings used Hall effect-based sensors.

Static energy meter errors caused by conducted electromagnetic interference

[Frank Leferink, Cees Keyer and Anton Melentjev/IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility](Sci-Hub mirror)

Millions of Smart Meters May Over-Inflate Readings by up to 600%

[Catalin Cimpanu/Bleeping Computer]