British Gas is to create 2,600 new jobs by 2012 as it rolls out new “smart” power meters to every home in the country.

The new “green” meters will enable gas and electricity use to be monitored remotely 24 hours-a-day.

The project has been hailed as the biggest shake-up of Britain's energy industry since the introduction of North Sea gas in the 1970s.

Industry experts had assumed the scheme would lead to the loss of thousands of jobs as meter readers will no longer be required.

But today, British Gas claimed that the project, which is expected to start next year, will create thousands of new jobs as it recruits experts to install the new meters in millions of homes.

The group said 1,700 of the jobs would be new, with the remaining 900 recruits transferring to the company from the current third party metering companies it uses.

Around 2,100 will be 'smart' energy experts working within homes, 400 supporting team members and 130 managerial staff.

The group conceded though that ultimately, some meter readers could be left out of work.

Call centre staff are also expected to be axed as the new meters will mean consumers will not have to phone to enquire about their estimated bills.

Britain's big six power companies - British Gas, EDF, E.ON, Scottish & Southern Energy, Scottish Power and RWE N-Power - intend to create a new company to oversee the installation of the 26 million new electricity meters and 20 million new gas meters.

The company will cost up to £100 million a year to run.

Most homes will have two meters which will feed into a single modem to allow remote access. The energy companies hope the new equipment will encourage fuel conservation and allow them to introduce new tariffs, rewarding customers, for example, for running appliances like washing machines in the middle of the night.

The Government believes the project will help reduce the country's carbon emissions by more than a third.

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