Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of gas meters and smart meters.
Answered by Lord Henley
Gas meters used for billing must be of an approved design and be accurate. Accuracy limits for smart and ‘traditional’, non-smart meters are identical and set out in legislation.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards manages an annual in-service testing regime to test the accuracy of gas meter types. Testing is undertaken on the basis of sampling and to date all gas meter types sampled have passed.
In the event of a dispute over the accuracy of a meter, the law gives all consumers the right to have their gas meter independently checked and tested. The vast majority of meters tested as a result of consumer dispute are found to be accurate.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration is being given by the Office for Product Safety and Standards to the measurement of the ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure in gas meters, to ensure more accurate readings.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Office for Product Safety and Standards is responsible for the regulatory system that delivers accuracy in measurement of gas consumed.
However, calculations relating to the ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure that are applied to those measurements for the purposes of billing, are a matter for the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (OFGEM) under the Gas (Calculation of Thermal Energy) Regulations 1996. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the noble Baroness. I will place a copy of his letter in the Libraries of the House.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the efficacy of the smart meter programme in reducing the proportion of households in fuel poverty.
Answered by Lord Henley
No recent assessment has been made. However, BEIS research published in 2015 (the Early Learning Project) concluded that there is potential for households in all income groups to make energy and/or cost savings from smart metering. Previous research (the Energy Demand Research Project) had also identified a more positive response to smart metering from consumers in areas of relatively high fuel poverty.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that the UK will transpose the European Commission Circular Economy Package into UK law within the timeframe to which they have committed.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We expect the final Circular Economy Package to be adopted shortly. The Government has confirmed that the UK will vote in favour of the final package. The Government is currently developing its approach to transposition and will set this out in the Resource and Waste Strategy later this year.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to lay the non-domestic renewable heat incentives regulations before Parliament.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme Regulations 2018 were laid in Parliament on 19 March 2018.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether there is a loophole for electricity generating units of 3MWTh (MW thermal) under the EU Emissions Trading System.
Answered by Lord Henley
The government does not believe the 3MW (thermal) threshold constitutes a loophole. The current inclusion criteria of the EU ETS offer a good balance between environmental integrity of the System and avoiding disproportionate administrative burden for operators and administrators.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the decision to replace net demand with gross demand in calculating Capacity Market charges for suppliers.
Answered by Lord Henley
The decision to change the basis for calculating the Capacity Market Supplier Charge from being based on net demand to being based on gross demand was published on 22 March 2017 in the Government’s response following its consultation on various proposed amendments to Rules and Regulations that govern the Capacity Market. An assessment of the impact of the change from net to gross was contained in an Analytical Annex to the Government Response.[1]
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to classify grid-scale storage as electricity generation.
Answered by Lord Henley
In our Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, published last July, the Government committed to define electricity storage as a distinct subset of generation in primary legislation, when parliamentary time allows. This will improve regulatory clarity for electricity storage – in particular, its treatment for licensing and planning purposes.
The regulator is also taking steps in line with this commitment. In October last year, Ofgem launched a consultation on proposals to modify the generation licence to include electricity storage. A response to this consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to set a deadline for distribution network operators to transition to distribution system operators.
Answered by Lord Henley
In our Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, published with Ofgem last July, we set out our expectation that distribution network operators (DNOs) would transition to being distribution system operators (DSOs). This involves more active management of networks, ensuring they compete network requirements (so flexible technologies like storage are deployed where they are more cost effective than network reinforcement), and greater coordination between the transmission and distribution system operators to improve efficiency.
The Energy Networks Association published a report in December 2017 outlining progress to date and a roadmap for future work. The Government welcomes in particular the commitment from the network companies to open up network requirements to competition, and notes that some DNOs are already doing this. As different parts of the network face different levels of congestion, other DNOs are expected to follow suit as and when they need to overcome network constraints.
Asked by: Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the electricity market of system operators and network owners owning and operating electricity storage.
Answered by Lord Henley
In the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan, published last July, the Government and Ofgem said that measures should be taken to limit the ownership and operation of electricity storage by distribution network operators. This is to prevent competitive activities being carried out by monopoly network operators, which would inhibit fair competition in the market. Ofgem subsequently consulted on limiting the ownership and operation of storage by distribution network operators in October last year, and we expect Ofgem to finalise their position in the coming months.