Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when energy suppliers will be required to provide consumers with the option of having a SMETS2 smart meter installed in a non‑communicating mode; and for what reason this option was not put in place prior to the RTS switch‑off.

Energy suppliers are best placed to make decisions on metering based on customers’ individual circumstances, and in some cases may be able to provide alternative arrangements if the customer does not want a smart meter in smart mode.

However, the customer would then not be able to access the full range of benefits offered by smart meters operating in ‘smart mode’ such as sending automatic readings, access to cheaper time-of-use tariffs, and accurate energy bills based on actual household usage, rather than estimates.