In reply to the letter by John Barnes (May 10), we would like to take the opportunity to clarify the scope of the smart meter project. The project involves the replacement of the electricity meter with a smart meter and the attachment of a probe device to the present water meter, such that both electricity and water meters will be read remotely.

While we are trying to minimise the inconvenience to our customer, such work may require the Utilities to visit the customer twice, since the technology and skills required for electricity and water are different. Customers who have smart meter devices might still be visited by a meter reader subsequently; this as part of a quality assurance testing exercise. We will be advising customers by letter as soon as automatic reading from the smart devices installed at the premises is activated indefinitely.

Mr Barnes may rest assured that in the near future both his water and electricity meters will be read remotely, and on a regular basis, with no inconvenience of meter reader visits. We are pleased that Mr Barnes likes the new meter. We also assure him that in the near future several benefits from this technology will become apparent.