Friday 20 October 2017
New next generation smart meters are to be rolled out to British Gas customers next year following a small-scale trial this summer.
The new SMETS2 meters will be capable of understanding the fluctuations in the supply and demand as well as integrating solar power, batteries and electric vehicle charging to help balance the grid.
While some consumers faced issues using the first generation smart meters after moving to a different supplier, the new technology is expected to allow householders to seamlessly switch energy firms and is also said to be more secure, according to Swiss developer Landis+Gyr.
The new meters will also allow localised energy trading between householders and time-of-use tariffs.
Catherine O'Kelly, Industry Development Director at British Gas said: “We're proud to be the first energy supplier in the UK to install a SMET2 meter in a customer's home. It's a really important milestone for our programme, coming hot on the heels of our four millionth smart meter installation a few months ago.”