Smart Meters

Lord Lennie Excerpts

Monday 8th July 2019 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Lennie]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the roll-out of smart meters.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Lord Henley) (Con)]

My Lords, the smart meter rollout in Britain is making good progress, with over 14.3 million smart and advanced meters operating, as of the end of March 2019. The programme remains on track to offer smart meters to every home and small business by the end of 2020.

[Lord Lennie (Lab)]

I thank the Minister for that Answer—just the 50 million or so short of target. Given the promised financial benefits to hard- pressed customers and the obvious global advantages of moving to a low-carbon economy associated with SMETS 2, why do the Government persist in leaving the implementation of this policy to the energy suppliers? Can the Minister state clearly why Ofgem rejected five of the major suppliers’ rollout plans for 2019 as being inadequate? Do the smart meters just not do what it says on the tin?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I had better write to the noble Lord with greater detail about Ofgem’s comments. It has completed the 2019 review and believes that suppliers are on track to meet our commitment that every household should have had the offer by 2020.