Thursday 30 January 2014

Smart meter rollout allows energy firms to gain consumers’ trust

The Government's smart meter rollout is a "real opportunity" for energy suppliers to change their relationship with consumers and gain their trust.

That's the view of DECC's Director of Fuel Poverty and Smart Meters, Daron Walker, who believes the rollout is a "massive complex transformational system" but will help make Britain a "smart" nation and bring benefits throughout the whole system.

DECC is working towards an industry-wide plan for the smart meter rollout, Mr Walker said at the Smart Metering UK & Europe Summit 2014 today.

Consumer protections are now in force, including the smart meter Code of Practice and regulations on data access and progress is being made in the development of technical standards for equipment, he added.

The Government has laid out expectations from those in the industry involved in the rollout, including the need for large energy suppliers to offer basic services to both credit and pre-payment customers.

Around 53 million smart meters are expected to be replaced in homes across the UK by 2020.