New price cap leads to website crashes

Customers are advised to call their energy suppliers if they experience issues visiting websites

Websites of several energy suppliers crashed hours before the new price cap came into force.

Yesterday, the final day for customers to submit meter readings, the websites of British Gas, EDF, SSE and ScottishPower faced technical problems.

Yesterday, an EDF spokesperson told ELN: “We are seeing an unprecedented demand from customers trying to submit a meter reading either online or via the EDF mobile app, which has led to us experiencing technical issues, we’re continuing to resolve this issue as quickly as we can and we apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.

“We urge customers not to worry and want to reassure them, that they don’t have to submit meter readings to us today and can share these with us in the coming days.

“In the meantime, we would encourage customers who usually submit meter readings to either take a photo or make a note of their meter reading.”

A British Gas spokesperson told ELN: “We would like to reassure all our customers that no one will be left out of pocket as a result of the system issues.

“There is a form on our website that customers can fill in to submit yesterday’s meter reading. Also, anyone who received a text from us can reply with yesterday’s meter reading.”

The energy regulator said suppliers must take all reasonable steps to provide ways for consumers to access their account information.

In an announcement, Ofgem added: “We are aware some energy suppliers are having trouble with their websites, affecting people being able to submit meter readings or access their online account.

“We are engaging with suppliers on the issue. Consumers who experience issues should contact their supplier straight away and take a picture of their meter reading if high contact volumes mean they are unable to get through.”

Yesterday, in response to the unprecedented website traffic to energy suppliers, Energy UK‘s spokesperson said: “People should not worry if they are unable to submit a meter reading today.

“Understandably suppliers are dealing with unprecedented call volumes and website traffic today.

“Most suppliers are offering alternative options such as submitting at a later date and different methods to send meter readings such as text, social media and email.

“This demonstrates the scale of the problem and how worried people are about high prices, which is why we have been asking the government to intervene to provide further support to consumers.”

ELN has contacted SSE and ScottishPower for a response.

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