Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Accepted
Unequal smart meter uptake among diverse demographic and socio-economic consumer groups
Conclusion
The Department told us that real-time data offered by a smart meter means that all types of consumer can benefit from having a smart meter installed, and that its early learning project identified that people with smart meters who were fuel-poor were benefiting similarly to people who were not.30 Smart Energy GB has a duty to ensure consumers in vulnerable circumstances are not ‘left behind’ and conducts surveys to identify smart meter uptake by demographic characteristics.31 Its recent data show consumers that are older, on higher incomes, male, and homeowners are more likely to have smart meters. Consumers that are young, female, on low salaries, and private renters are less likely to have smart meters.32 Wealthier consumers are also more likely than others to be able to replace inefficient appliances (such as washing machines), for example if their smart meter 21 Q 65 22 C&AG’s Report, Figure 3 23 Q 65 24 URM0005 25 Q 98; C&AG’s Report, para 2.8 26 C&AG’s Report, para 2.10 27 Q 88 28 C&AG’s Report, para 17 29 C&AG’s Report, para 2.11 30 Qq 119–120 31 C&AG’s Report, para 1.13, Figure 8 32 C&AG’s Report, Figure 8 12 Update on the rollout of smart meters suggests an older washing machine has relatively high running costs.33 In correspondence to the Committee after the session, Smart Energy GB told us that it has a specific team focused on vulnerable consumers who also lead on working with a range of local and national partners who are trusted voices for vulnerable customer segments, including Carers UK.34 Smart meter coverage by geography
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the committee's observations on consumer benefits and uptake patterns, detailing its ongoing programme of data collection, monitoring, and evaluation of smart meter benefits, including for consumers experiencing barriers in the energy market, and plans for further evaluation.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: February 2025 2.2 The department has an ongoing programme of benefits data collection, monitoring, and evaluation which includes recent published evidence on energy savings and consumer benefits. Further substantive evaluation research to complement this is currently in development. 2.3 An independent evaluation of evidence on energy savings for households resulting from smart meters carried out by the Department’s Behavioural Insights Team was published in Summer 2023. This identified savings of 3.4% for electricity consumption and 3.0% for gas, in line with the programme’s assumptions of 3.0% and 2.2% for credit consumers. Wider consumer benefits were explored in recent published evaluation which focussed on consumers who may experience barriers in the energy market (e.g., those on lower incomes). A range of additional benefits were identified, such as the ability to top up and access balance information remotely offered by smart pre-payment meters. 2.4 This evidence was collected as part of an ongoing programme of data collection and monitoring capturing benefits across the roll-out, including energy consumption reductions, credit and pre-payment consumer experience, demand side response and flexibility and savings accruing to industry. 2.5 To supplement the department’s existing evidence base, DESNZ is in the process of designing a new phase of programme wide evaluation which will capture evidence on existing benefits in addition to potential further benefits resulting from innovation enabled by smart metering. Work to provide additional sources of evidence on energy savings is also underway, including testing the potential of the Department’s National Energy Efficiency Data framework (NEED) to provide estimates of impacts.