Energy: Meters

(asked on 28th July 2020) - View Source

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the ability of consumers to exercise their right to data portability under Article 20 of the General Data Protection Regulation when switching between energy suppliers using smart meters, and (2) whether such switches are being hindered by a lack of compliance by energy companies with this right.


Answered by
Lord Callanan Portrait
Lord Callanan
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This question was answered on 6th August 2020

Under Article 20 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), consumers have the right to obtain and reuse their personal data, including smart metering consumption data that they have provided to the energy supplier. Energy consumers’ rights under the GDPR are not affected by switching energy supplier.

In order to ensure that energy consumers have control over their energy consumption data, the Government established the smart metering Data Access and Privacy Framework, which is implemented through energy licences and codes and complements wider data protection legislation. Energy suppliers are required to make available to domestic consumers with meters in smart mode, upon request, up to 24 months of data relating to consumption in each day, week, month and year. The data must be made available free of charge and in a readily understandable format.

The Information Commissioner's Office is responsible for upholding information rights, while the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets is responsible for regulating energy suppliers’ compliance with licence obligations.

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