Friday 17 August 2018

Energy minister hails new smart meter-enabled products and tariffs

Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry has hailed new and innovative products and tariffs that have been enabled by smart meters.

She visited the offices of OVO Energy in Bristol yesterday, which is one of just a few companies that offer tariffs rewarding customers for charging their electric vehicles (EVs) during off-peak times.

The supplier’s intelligent platform ‘VCharge’ also enables home appliances such as EVs, electric heaters and batteries to help balance the grid and reduce energy costs.

Ms Perry said smart charging and vehicle to grid technologies are helping consumers save money and could total up to £40 billion by 2050.

She added smart energy innovations not only allows customers to choose to use energy at the cheapest times but also make money by selling energy from their vehicle’s battery at times when demand is high.

The energy minister said: “More than 11 million meters are already empowering consumers to reap the rewards of a smarter energy system, putting homes and small businesses on the road to a smarter future. Smart meters will be the cornerstone of a cleaner, flexible and efficient energy system, saving the country tens of billions of pounds.

“New innovative products and tariffs like these will put consumers in the fast lane when it comes to control of their energy use, saving and even making them money when using electric vehicles.”

A recent report suggested smart meters will save the UK only £11 per household.

Ms Perry is the headline speaker at the Energy Live Expo event in London on 31st October. To book your place, you can send an e-mail to tickets@energylivenews.com.