Energy firms single out MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis as websites crash
In tweet which was later deleted, E.On said Mr Lewis’s advice to submit meter readings on Thursday was ‘bringing down Britain’.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Energy firms have singled out MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis and his pleas to consumers to submit meter readings as they faced anger over their websites crashing.
On Twitter, E.On took aim at Lewis for “bringing down Britain” after he was among experts who encouraged consumers this week to take their meter readings before the higher price cap comes into force on Friday.
In a tweet that has since been deleted, E.On said: “Unfortunately the website and phone lines of every supplier are being hammered today. Martin has once again created unprecedented demand bringing down Britain.”
E.On later apologised for the tweet.
In a statement, the energy giant said: “This was an ill-considered and off-the-cuff remark made by one of our energy specialists and in no way reflects our position.
“We have an excellent working relationship with Martin Lewis and his team, and we apologise for any offence caused. We ourselves have spent the past few weeks advising customers to submit accurate meter readings ahead of April 1.
“We are seeing unprecedented volumes of customer traffic to our website and app. While we work to resolve this, we can confirm to our customers that any meter readings they take today can be updated to their account online in the coming days. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. Smart meter customers do not need to do anything as their readings will automatically be shared with us.”
Lewis downplayed E.On’s comment, later posting on Twitter: “On the Eon tweet – I think it was someone trying to be funny – who forgot that you can’t do a wry smile in twitter.
“Rather than anyone actually suggesting I’m “breaking Britain’ I’m always forgiving of human error (as I make ’em myself). So let’s move on. Nowt to see here ‘gov”
Octopus Energy also mentioned Lewis as it explained to customers what was behind its website struggling to process meter readings.
In a statement, the firm said: “It looks like every large energy provider’s website is down this morning… this is usually due to dramatically increased web visits.
“Martin Lewis’s advice for customers to submit meter readings on the same day as #MeterReadingDay has driven incredible traffic – we’ve added additional capacity this morning to bolster our servers and are fairly stable.”