A 78-year-old Powys woman has been locked in a battle with energy giant E.ON over a new meter which she says could have cost her big money.

Gill Utting, from Carno, has been asking energy provider E.ON to get a new meter installed in her property after the last one broke over 10 months ago.

However the company refused to install one, citing an obstruction in front of the meter, meaning she has been receiving an estimated bill.

Mrs Utting said that when an engineer came to the property they refused to install a new meter as the one in the property had been moved by a previous owner and would therefore be a health and safety issue.

“I got Citizen’s Advice in on my case. They spoke with them at length and they said that it is dangerous,” said Mrs Utting. “It was moved by a previous occupier and it was bodged meaning the wires struggle to reach it.

“I’m having estimated upon estimated upon estimated bill.”

County Times:

Mrs Utting has claimed that the engineer who visited threatened to have her disconnected and that the meter was moved by a previous owner of the property whilst the house was renovated.

A spokesperson for E.ON has said that the meter does not pose a risk to Mrs Utting but rather to their engineers and that Mrs Utting will have to have the obstruction removed before work can be done - but have confirmed that they will carry out the work as soon as it is done and will offer support going forward.

An E.ON spokesperson said: “We are aware of Mrs Utting’s concerns regarding her meter and our engineers have visited her home twice over the past year to try to remedy the situation.

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"On both occasions they were unable to replace her meters because of an obstruction in front of the meters which needs to be removed before our engineers can safely carry out their work.

“Mrs Utting’s complait was previously taken to the independent Energy Ombudsman and we have spoken to Mrs Utting today to explain again that we are happy to replace her meter once she has arranged for the obstruction to be removed. 

“We will continue to speak to Mrs Utting and have reassured her that she will not be out of pocket as a result of this situation as we will review her account and historic charges once the new meter is in place.”