Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to protect energy customers from companies exploiting remotely programmable features of energy smartmeters.

Ofgem rules require energy suppliers to assess whether installing a prepayment meter, or the remote switching of a smart meter, is safe and reasonably practicable for a customer. Prepayment meters should not be installed, or smart meters remotely switched, without carrying out appropriate assessments, including identifying any vulnerability. When making this assessment, suppliers are required to consider whether a customer’s vulnerability makes a prepayment service a poor choice, for example where medical equipment is required.

The Government welcomes the steps Ofgem is taking to ensure energy suppliers comply with these obligations.