Recommendation 13

HM Government Accepted

2022–23 The Government wants as many households as possible in Great Britain to benefit from smart metering, including those who are fuel poor. To help achieve this the Government introduced a four-year framework of minimum installation targets until 2025, to ensure that energy suppliers continue to install smart meters at scale and drive rollout momentum. Starting on 1st January 2022, the framework gives energy suppliers binding obligations set out in licence conditions, which are regulated and enforced by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem). The smart meter rollout policy and targets are universal and apply equally across geographies and customer types, and the Government expects energy suppliers to fulfil their regulatory obligations and reach their individual annual minimum requirements. Overall, the rollout is making good progress, with over 33 million smart and advanced meters in homes and small businesses across Great Britain at the end of June 2023. Latest evidence shows that smart meter installation coverage is progressing evenly across most customer groups. It has progressed faster for the fuel poor, with data from Smart Energy GB (SEGB), the organisation responsible for the national public engagement campaign for the rollout of smart meters in Great Britain, showing that consumers in fuel poverty are slightly more likely than average (55% compared to 53%) to have smart meters. With smart meters providing access to a wider range of tariffs, accurate billing and helping households reduce energy use, there remains good consumer demand for the rollout to continue to make good progress. Some energy suppliers are offering financial incentives to encourage take up and we expect them to innovate their approaches to demand generation, including by developing new products and services enabled by smart meters to further motivate their customers. The Government is keen to ensure that the benefits of smart meters are seen alongside energy efficiency improvements. In 2022, Government introduced the requirement that smart meter advice must be provided to all households in receipt of funding from the Energy Company Obligation 4, Home Upgrade Grant, the Local Authority Delivery scheme, and the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. This advice is provided by Smart Energy GB and includes versions for consumers considered to be in vulnerable circumstances. Lord Callanan, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, has written to scheme administrators and installers to highlight the importance of smart meters alongside any energy efficiency measures installed. The Government has also committed to consult on potential options to further incentivise or require recipients of the Energy Company Obligation Scheme (phase 4) and the Great British Insulation Scheme (formerly ECO+) to request a smart meter installation.