Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether officials in his Department have had discussions with relevant organisations on steps to ensure that rural and island communities have (a) equitable access to SMART meters and (b) support for their transition to renewable energy.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Energy suppliers are obligated under their licence conditions to install smart meters throughout Great Britain, including rural and island communities. The Department is working with energy suppliers to identify and share best practice in deploying meters in harder to reach areas, including the use of "roaming" teams of installers who are normally based elsewhere visiting communities at regular intervals.
On the energy transition more widely, Great British Energy will support local and combined authorities – as well as community energy groups – to roll out small and medium-scale renewable energy projects through the Local Power Plan.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has had recent discussions with Ofgem on disparities in electricity standing charges between regions.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Standing charges cover the costs energy suppliers take on to provide consumers with electricity, which vary by location. Ofgem’s recently published discussion paper sets out the options for how standing charges could be reduced, including by moving supplier operational costs off standing charges onto the unit rate, increasing the variety of tariffs available for consumer in the market, and in the longer term, reviewing how system costs are allocated.
My team and I are in regular contact with Ofgem to discuss a wide range of issues.