Linky boss admits errors were made

This comes after attacks from householders and councils over effectiveness, cost, safety and wireless radiation and meters’ sec­urity against internet attack.
Now, however, the man heading the installation programme admits mistakes were made.

Bernard Lassus, of Enedis (formerly ERDF) which runs the national grid, said the state agency had not done enough to let users know the purpose and benefits of Linky.
In trying to catch up on other European countries which had been using them for years, it had decided on a rapid, single introduction which consumers felt was too big a step, especially without the benefits having been properly spelled out and more so because they had not been given a say.

Similarly people were worried about radiation but had no worries over Wifi, which they had set up themselves, and it seemed part of the problem was because an outsider was doing the work.
Speaking at European Utility Week in Barcelona, he said that about 150 communes out of 36,000 had refused to allow the meters to be installed and that between 1 and 2% of consumers also rejected installation.
Over time people seemed to be more accepting of the technology but he said Enedis still had a job to explain the benefits of knowing their power consumption and to give reassurance about the use made
of their consumption data.

Meanwhile, Montferrand-du-Périgord in Dordogne has lost a bid to ban Linky, due to an administrative mistake.