My electricity meter is sparking or smoking: what to do

The meter is the supplier's equipment, not the household's. If a smart meter stops working, the household contacts the supplier, which is responsible for maintenance and will fix or replace the meter as needed². If the supply is cut off because of a faulty energy meter, the contact is the energy supplier rather than the network operator³. The distribution network operator (DNO) handles the cables and the connection to the property, not the meter itself.

Fire risk from smart meters is very low, and it is incredibly rare for a smart meter to be faulty and even rarer for there to be a fire⁴. That is the independent position, and it is worth holding on to while still treating smoke, flame or a burning smell as a genuine emergency. The rest of this page sets out what to do first, how to tell a fault from normal operation, who to call, and how a replacement works.

What to do first: isolate at the consumer unit and keep clear

The consumer unit, still widely called the fuse box, is the row of switches and breakers that controls the circuits in the home. Residual current devices (RCDs) in a consumer unit immediately switch off the electricity if they detect a fault, and are designed to protect people from electric shocks and earth faults⁵. If the meter is sparking, smoking or burning and the consumer unit is reachable without passing the meter, switching off there cuts the supply to the installation.

The meter itself may sit inside the property or in an external meter box or cubicle⁸. Where it is outside, the household may not be able to reach an isolator at all, and the correct action is to keep well clear and call for help. Where it is inside, the same rule applies: isolate if it is safe, then leave the area.

Once the supply is off, the immediate danger from the meter is reduced but not removed: a smouldering component can still reignite. Keep people and pets away from the meter position, and do not use the area until it has been checked.

Sparking versus normal meter operation: how to tell the difference

A meter that appears to be doing something odd is not necessarily faulty. Electricity meters display readings in ways that can look like activity to someone unfamiliar with the unit. A two rate single display electricity meter has only one digital display, and will either flash up the different rate readings in a cycle or have a button to press to cycle through the readings⁹. An Economy 7 meter shows two meter readings, a low or off-peak rate and a normal, high or on-peak rate, or a button to press to see each rate on an electronic meter¹⁰. On an Economy 7 smart meter, pressing 6 on the keypad cycles to 'IMP R02' followed by 8 digits, usually the peak or normal reading¹¹.

None of that is sparking. What a household should treat as a fault is visible arcing, a buzzing or crackling sound, burn marks, a hot casing, fuses blowing or circuit-breakers tripping. Electrical Safety First lists exactly these among the signs that should not be ignored⁴. A flashing display is normal; a flash of light from inside the sealed unit, or a crackling noise, is not.

Smart meters are as accurate as traditional meters when it comes to measuring electricity or gas usage¹², and they send automatic readings to the supplier on a half-hourly, daily, or in some cases monthly basis¹³. A meter that has stopped sending readings is a fault to report, but it is not a safety emergency in the way that sparking or smoke is.

Who to call: your electricity supplier, the DNO and when to dial 999

The first call depends on what is happening. If the meter is sparking or on fire, it is 999¹. If the meter is faulty but not dangerous, it is the electricity supplier, the company the household pays its electricity bills to³. If the household does not know who the supplier is, calling 105 reaches the local electricity network operator (DNO), which can say who the supplier is¹⁴. Wales & West Utilities also offers a supplier lookup line on 0870 608 1524¹⁵.

The split of responsibility matters. The supplier is the contact for a faulty meter, and for late, incorrect or missing bills, back billing, being overcharged, poor customer service and refusing to refund credit from an account¹⁶. The DNO is the contact for the connection itself: a domestic customer contacts the local distribution network to find out whether a property is connected, or how to get connected¹⁷. A household that has been cut off because of a faulty energy meter contacts the energy supplier, not the network operator³.

What a smoking or burning meter means and why it is dangerous

A smart meter is an electronic device that records the consumption of electric energy and gas in intervals of an hour or less¹⁸. It records how much gas and/or electricity a home uses and shares readings automatically with the energy supplier¹⁹. It measures gas and electricity usage and cost, displays this on an in-home display, and sends usage information securely to the supplier²⁰. It is connected to the mains electricity supply and/or the gas pipe going into the home²¹.

That connection is the point. A meter carries the full supply current for the property, and its terminals and internal components are under continuous load. Smoke or a burning smell from the unit points to overheating insulation, a loose connection or a failing component. Because the meter is sealed and mains-powered, the household cannot inspect or repair it, and the fault has to be dealt with by the supplier.

The independent assessment is that fire risk is very low and that a faulty smart meter is incredibly rare⁴. The practical reading of that is not complacency but proportion: a meter that is working normally is not a fire hazard, and a meter that is smoking is a fault that needs the supplier or the emergency services immediately.

Getting the meter replaced: supplier obligations and access

Under their licence conditions, energy suppliers are required to take all reasonable steps to install a smart meter where a meter is fitted for the first time or a traditional meter needs replacing due to a fault²². Suppliers were also required to meet binding annual targets for installing smart and advanced meters under the rollout framework²³. The practical effect is that a faulty traditional meter is normally replaced with a smart meter rather than a like-for-like unit.

For the Radio Teleswitch Service switch-off, the position is explicit: the supplier must replace the meter to make sure there is no disruption to the electricity supply²⁴, and the supplier should upgrade the household to a smart meter for free⁶. The electricity supplier must make sure a suitable meter is installed, and that service is not disrupted¹⁴.

Access is the household's part of the job. NIE Networks asks customers to ensure the area around the meter is clear and there is good access, and the installer will ask for all electrical appliances to be turned off before power is switched off⁷. During a smart meter appointment, key safety checks should be carried out, and an in-home display should be offered and demonstrated²⁵.

Staying safe in the meantime: smells, scorch marks and warning signs

Between reporting a fault and the visit, the household's job is to watch and to keep clear. Electrical Safety First advises not ignoring burn marks, arcing (buzzing or crackling) sounds, fuses blowing, circuit-breakers tripping, or equipment that feels hot to touch⁴. Any of these at the meter or the consumer unit is a reason to isolate the supply if it is safe and to call the supplier.

Smoke and heat alarms are the backstop. Electrical Safety First advises ensuring there is at least one smoke or heat alarm per floor in the property⁴. A meter fault that develops while the household is asleep is exactly the scenario those alarms exist for.

A smart meter is accompanied by an in-home display, a portable touchscreen device that shows near real-time energy usage data²⁶. If the display goes blank or the meter stops recording, that is a fault to report: a smart meter may stop recording the energy used, or may no longer send readings to the supplier²⁷. A meter may also fail to work in smart mode after a supplier switch, in which case readings have to be taken manually and submitted to the new supplier²⁸.

What this means for a household's energy independence

A meter fault is the clearest illustration of where a home's energy independence ends. The household can isolate at the consumer unit, keep the area clear and watch for warning signs, but the meter itself belongs to the supplier, which is responsible for maintenance and will fix or replace it as needed². The supply, the meter and the connection to the network are all outside the household's control.

That dependence is not a reason to avoid smart metering, but it is a reason to understand it. A smart meter records consumption and shares readings automatically, which is what makes accurate rather than estimated billing possible¹³. It also means the device sits on the mains supply and on a communications link the household does not own. Where a supplier fails, the position is set out in the rules on what happens if an energy supplier goes out of business²⁹, and complaints about a supplier or network operator follow the Ofgem complaints route¹⁶.

The safety position is straightforward. Fire risk from smart meters is very low, and a faulty smart meter is incredibly rare⁴. Sparking, smoke or a burning smell at the meter is nonetheless an emergency: isolate if it is safe, keep clear, and call 999 if the meter is sparking or on fire¹.