Faulty Electricity Meter?

SpudTait

Is it possible for a meter to run too fast, meaning someone is erroneously charged too much for electricity?  An old friend, aged 90, lives alone in a one bedroom bungalow.  His bills seem extortionately high.

Over 12 months, April 2022 to April 2023 his electricity usage was apparently 10,164 kWh.  In April his Scottish Power  statement said:

Your estimated annual cost on your current tariff is £3,579.39 for electricity.  He is on the cheapest tariff and has no gas.

At 90 years of age he still has all of his marbles and consciously tries to save electricity.  So how can he be paying so much?

Krakkkers

If he has no gas then i guess he is heating with electricity which is very expensive.
What was the previous 12 months?

CSI_Yorkshire

Possible, and we get several posters here thinking it is happening to them, but almost all of them are actually found to not be faulty and something un-noticed was actually using the electricity.  Electric heating and electric hot water especially can use a lot and go unspotted.

Are your friend's bills based on actual or estimated readings?  Do older bills show a similar usage (although cheaper because of the unit price change) or is it new?

Spoonie_Turtle

Electric heating and hot water, in a bungalow (which almost certainly loses heat quicker than a house with the same floor area), and elderly so maybe has the heating on a higher temp than someone younger - 10,000kWh is very plausible indeed.

Firstly check whether it's based on actual readings.

If it is correct, what system does he have for heat and hot water?  What type of tariff is he on?  (Single rate or dual.)

If he is generally frugal like many of his generation he may have older appliances which use more than modern ones, that usage can add up.  Not suggesting it's necessary to do anything about it, especially if the payback period of new appliances might not make sense, just mentioning it as a possible explanation for some of the usage - although heating and hot water will make up the bulk of the usage anyway.

QrizB

SpudTait said:

Over 12 months, April 2022 to April 2023 his electricity usage was apparently 10,164 kWh.  In April his Scottish Power  statement said:

Your estimated annual cost on your current tariff is £3,579.39 for electricity.  He is on the cheapest tariff and has no gas.

How much electricity has he used in previous years? A similar amount, or a drastically different one?

Are his bills based on actual readings (provided by the customer manually, or via a working smart meter) or estimates?

macman

10,00 kWh pa , assuming no other source of heating or hot water (solid fuel?), is incredibly low usage., so he probably is saving electricity But, since electricity is 350% more expensive than gas, it's the single most expensive way to heat and hot water a property, unless he can switch to E7 and use NSH's.
That estimate is broadly correct based on April prices at c. 34p per kWh, but with the reduction in the EPC, that will reduce to nearer £2,800 for most of the rest of this year now.
The only issue here is whether his usage has gone up steeply vs the previous year, but you've given us no means of comparison. Unless it has, there is no reason to suspect meter error, which is very rare.