Energy News

Energy suppliers will ‘pay for smart meters’

Wednesday, 2 December 2009

By Hazel Cottrell - hazel@consumerchoices.co.uk

The government has confirmed plans for a nationwide roll-out of smart meters, but it’s still unclear how much of the cost will be passed on to the public.

Smart meters for gas and electricity will be in every home in the UK by 2020, the government confirmed today.

State-of-the-art smart meters provide real-time energy usage figures to both energy companies and consumers, meaning the end of estimated bills.

Lord Hunt, energy minister of state for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) (www.decc.gov.uk) said that energy suppliers will be responsible for buying and installing the smart meters in British homes.

However, he added: “It would not be unexpected if [the costs] fed through to energy prices”. This seems to suggest that customers should expect higher bills to pay for the technology.

The government will make it mandatory for energy suppliers to provide standalone visual display units alongside smart meters, which will help consumers monitor and reduce their energy consumption.

It will also develop a national communications system to co-ordinate communication between energy suppliers and smart meters.

Speaking at the General Electric headquarters today, Lord Hunt said the roll-out of smart meters would be a huge project, on the same scale as the UK’s conversion to natural gas in the 1960s.

Chris Eagle, commercial manager at Energychoices.co.uk, said: “There are still plenty of decisions to be made concerning the roll-out and it is not yet clear who will really end up footing the bill.

“The roll-out will cost billions of pounds and while consumers should see benefits, the overall savings will depend on how much of the cost of smart meters energy suppliers pass on through increased energy prices.”

The DECC will work with regulator Ofgem to develop a framework for the smart meter roll-out and plans to publish details of it in summer 2010.