Intelligent Electricity Meters May Not Be So Smart

The new digital or intelligent meters (telegestión) are being fitted by Endesa to all properties. This by law must be fitted to all properties by the 31/12/2018. Spanish police have already spoken out about the risk of an increase in robberies of homes during the holiday periods and even more so of the hundreds of thousands of holiday homes.

These meters which send usage data direct to the electricity companies, avoids the need of a meter reader. The downside is the red lights which have been fitted that flash proportionately depending on the power consumption. One only has to approach these meters during darkness hours to note how obvious these red lights are and the signal they give to would be thieves. Most of these meters are accessible and on villas and townhouse are directly on an outside wall or in the street.

What could be a small light or better still not to be visible at all, looks more like a red beacon which would attract the attention of anyone with the intention of robbing properties. Try this for yourself. If you have the new meter, stand outside even at a good distance from the meter, try by leaving one or two lights on and note the speed of the flashing. Turn the electric off totally and you turn the light off. Test again by putting on electric appliances and lights, you will note the increase in the speed.

One of Spain’s larger consumer associations warned about the danger of the public revealing of users’ data through these devices. These findings were also reported to the National Commission of Energy, the Ministry of Industry Energy and Tourism and to the Spanish Data Protection Agency. However, none of the needed changes to revert the situation have been made.

Please note: The information provided is based upon our understanding of current legislation. It is not legal advice but is provided freely to enable you to be properly informed. We recommend that if you are considering taking action, you should seek professional advice.