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Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Update on the rollout of smart meters

Status: Closed Opened: 17 May 2023 Closed: 14 Feb 2024 5 recommendations 20 conclusions 1 report

Energy suppliers are legally obliged to meet bespoke annual individual minimum smart meter installation targets for domestic and small business customers in Great Britain in the period from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2025. At the end of December 2022, 55% of all meters were smart, meaning they can provide near-real time information to …

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Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Seventy-Second Report - Update on the rollout of smart mete… HC 1332 20 Oct 2023 25 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
20 Conclusion Seventy-Second Report - Update on the r… Accepted in Part

Energy suppliers lack obligation to replace faulty in-home smart meter displays after one year.

Consumers are only guaranteed to receive the benefits available from being able to monitor their energy usage via an in-home display for a year. After one year, if the device breaks the energy supplier currently has no obligation to replace it.65 Ofgem said it encourages suppliers very strongly to replace …

Government response. The government agrees with the committee's observation, stating it is developing and seeking agreement on voluntary good practice principles for In-Home Display provision beyond the initial 12-month period and has not ruled out further regulation, partially addressing the lack of …
HM Treasury
22 Conclusion Seventy-Second Report - Update on the r… Accepted in Part

Smart Meter Programme lacks up-to-date cost-benefit analysis despite being active for over a decade.

The government first announced its intention to mandate suppliers to install smart meters in 2008, and energy suppliers have been rolling out smart meters since 2012.70 The Programme has therefore been active for more than a decade, and although the Department has produced seven cost-benefit analyses, it has not done …

Government response. The government agrees to share annual cost and benefit information with Parliament by Summer 2024 to provide visibility on the smart metering rollout. However, it does not explicitly commit to producing a full new cost-benefit analysis since the last one …
HM Treasury
23 Conclusion Seventy-Second Report - Update on the r… Accepted in Part

Department unable to provide current smart meter programme costs and benefits to Parliament.

At our evidence session, the Department could not provide an up-to-date figure for the Programme’s costs and benefits. It considers that both costs and benefits will have increased since 2019, given: a) lower installer efficiency and delays during COVID-19 increasing costs generally, together with higher than anticipated labour costs; and …

Government response. The government acknowledges the committee's finding that up-to-date cost and benefit figures are not available, and, treating this as a recommendation, commits to sharing this information with Parliament on an annual basis by Summer 2024. However, detailed plans for bringing …
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
22 Jun 2023 Anne Pardoe · Citizens Advice, Clive Maxwell · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Daisy Cross · Energy UK, Daron Walker · Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Marcus Shepheard · Climate Change Committee, Neil Kenward · Ofgem View ↗

Correspondence

2 letters
DateDirectionTitle
11 Jul 2023 — Correspondence from Daisy Cross, Head of Future, Retail Markets, Energy UK, re …
10 Jul 2023 — Correspondence from Dan Brooke, CEO, Smart Energy GB, re Update on the rollout …