Across the Netherlands, a quiet hazard is emerging at the intersection of ambition and infrastructure: the electrical meter cupboard, long overlooked as mere household plumbing, is catching fire at a rate of three times per week. The energy transition — solar panels, heat pumps, electric vehicles — is outpacing the capacity of aging fuse boxes designed for a simpler era. What is unfolding is less a technical failure than a human one, a collective underestimation of the weight we are placing on systems we rarely think about until they burn.
Dutch meter box fires surge as households overload electrical systems
Potential for fires in residential meter cupboards poses risk of property damage and injury to household occupants.