Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department (a) has conducted and (b) plans to conduct any research into alternative customer engagement tools to In Home Displays.

In 2011 the Energy Demand Research Project reported on a series of Government-supported supplier-led trials covering a range of feedback mechanisms from over 50,000 GB houses. These included but were not limited to In Home Displays with research into energy efficiency advice, benchmarking, billing, financial incentives and digital media (e.g. web and television). The findings showed that electricity savings with an In Home Display were generally 2-4% higher than with a smart meter only.

More recently, the Department has consulted on enabling suppliers to undertake controlled trials of innovative In Home Display alternatives when they install a compliant smart metering system. We are currently considering responses ahead of publishing decisions.