Smart Meter Not Commissioned Properly – What It Means & How to Fix It

If your smart meter isn’t working properly, there’s a good chance it was never fully commissioned.

This is one of the most common hidden smart meter problems in the UK. The meter may be installed and look fine on the wall, but the setup behind the scenes was never completed properly.

That means you can end up with a smart meter that behaves more like a normal meter — or only works partly.

What does “commissioned” mean?

Commissioning is the setup process that happens after the meter is fitted.

It is the stage where the system is properly connected so it can:

send readings to your supplier
pair the gas meter to the electric meter
connect the communications hub
support smart tariffs and remote functions

If that process fails, the meter may still be installed — but not fully working.

Signs your smart meter was not commissioned properly

You may have a commissioning problem if:

your meter is not sending readings
your gas meter is not connecting
your bill is estimated
your supplier can see the meter but cannot control it
your smart tariff is not working
your display is not showing the right information

These often look like separate faults, but they can all come from the same root problem.

Why this happens

In real-world installs, commissioning can fail for a few common reasons:

weak WAN signal during or after install
gas meter not paired properly
supplier or account setup problems
system or DCC communication issues
the final setup steps not fully completing

Sometimes the install looks finished, but the smart part was never properly completed.

What this means for you

If your smart meter was not commissioned properly, you may notice:

it does not send readings
your bill is estimated
your gas meter acts dumb
your smart tariff will not activate
your supplier keeps asking for manual readings

This can carry on for months if no one spots the real cause.

What should you do next?

Contact your supplier and explain the symptoms clearly.

Instead of just saying “my meter isn’t working”, explain what is actually happening:

gas is not connecting
bill is estimated
smart tariff is not working
readings are not sending

Then ask whether the meter is fully commissioned and communicating properly.

What’s happening behind the scenes

the meter may be fitted but not fully enrolled into the system
the gas meter may not be paired properly to electric
the communications hub may not be connected properly
the supplier may be falling back to estimated billing

This is why one bad setup can create several different problems at once.

What the engineer (squad) would check

whether the meter is commissioned properly
whether gas and electric are paired and communicating
whether the WAN is working
whether the supplier can actually use the smart functions
whether the issue is meter-side or supplier-side

What usually fixes it

remote recommissioning
follow-up engineer visit
gas pairing completed properly
WAN or comms hub issue fixed
supplier correcting setup and billing once communication is restored

Could you be entitled to compensation?

If your smart meter has not been working properly for a long time, it is worth asking your supplier whether compensation applies.

Many customers are not told unless they ask.

Final thought

Many smart meter problems are not separate faults at all — they are symptoms of a setup that was never completed properly.

Once commissioning is fixed, several problems often disappear at the same time.