Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect of amending the licence conditions for retailers responsible for implementing smart meters so that they may use normative benchmark comparisons as an alternative to in-home displays on (a) the total cost of that implementation project and (b) the likelihood of achieving and sustaining the two per cent electricity and 2.8 per cent gas behavioural energy efficiency savings required for that project to be cost effective.

The Government has not made an assessment of the potential effect of amending the licence conditions to enable energy suppliers to offer normative benchmark comparisons as an alternative to in-home displays (IHD), due to the lack of UK evidence that such an alternative to the IHD obligation would provide a similar range and level of net benefit. However the smart metering rules are designed to allow for provision of additional engagement tools including benchmark comparisons. These may complement the information provided by the IHD and deliver additional benefits. Some suppliers are already providing benchmarked energy consumption information.

By contrast, GB trials and international experience demonstrate that IHDs are instrumental to energy saving. The recently published findings of the Smart Metering Early Learning Project provide substantial new evidence that it is realistic to expect durable consumer energy savings of 3 per cent provided engagement is effective, and that larger savings are feasible in the future.