Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of energy customers with prepayment meters who have been unable to pay their energy bills in the last three calendar years.

Ofgem only holds data for smart meters in prepayment mode that have disconnected, it is not possible to collect this data for traditional prepayment meters. One of the benefits of smart prepayment over traditional prepayment meters is the ability for energy suppliers to know when customers have gone off supply, and so offer timely support.

Ofgem hold data for Q1 – Q3 2022. The number of electricity smart meters in GB that disconnected at least once across this period are provided in the table below. Not all disconnections will be due to affordability issues.