Smart meter rollout faces extreme delays

The UKs smart meter rollout is facing extreme delays as suppliers are now being asked to ‘slow’ the installations due to a shortage of devices.

It has been revealed that energy suppliers do not have enough of the new style devices to math the appointments they have booked in from next month onwards. This is due to technical issues with the new iteration of the devices delaying supply and risking the UKs target for rollout.

The requirement of the project was that every home in the UK needed to be offered a smart meter by energy firms by 2020. However, it’s now clear that this target will not be met and that some customers could be waiting extended periods for functional smart meters to be installed.

The initial smart meter is already installed in around 12 million homes. As a device, it was intended to help consumers take control of their energy spend, giving them crucial information about their tariff, usage and trends over time.

However, the old style meters are unable to provide most of this vital information if the customer were to switch energy supplier.

The new meters, dubbed ‘switchable meters or SMETS2, were developed to provide a solution to this problem. However, they have still been struggling to connect to the national network, and issues with development have meant there are major delays to the implementation of them.

Northern customers have been revealed to already be paying for the smart meter rollout, despite very few having access to one themselves. The £11bn rollout is being paid for by all energy billpayers, but those living in the north of England could have to wait for nine months or longer to obtain a SMETS2.

The rollout is being led by the Data Communications Company (DCC), part of Capita, but is split into two distinct projects – north and south of the UK. While the southern operations are pressing ahead largely as planned, customers in the north, defined as anywhere above Lancashire, are facing increasing delays as the rollout there has been much slower.

Labours shadow energy minister, Dr Alan Whitehead, said:

“The Government is in complete denial over its ability to meet its own deadline. Only when it accepts the gravity of the situation will they be able to work out a revised strategy for getting smart meters rolled out across the country. This is now very urgent.”

All independent energy suppliers are under pressure to meet the smart meter deadline. Last year,  Ofgem handed EDF a six figure fine for not installing enough of the devices. Now, they are actively being asked to slow down their installation speed, as not enough of the SMETS2 devices are available to meet appointments.

 Citizens Advice say that around 3,000 complaints were received last year regarding smart meters, with people reporting issues with missed appointments and smart meters not working as they should.

Smart Energy UK, the company tasked with the promotion of the rollout, released a statement regarding the delays:

We are frustrated on behalf of consumers who lose their smart service when they switch supplier. This issue will be resolved in the coming months and smart services will be restored, but there must be no further delay. A combination of technical difficulties and poor customer service is holding back the rollout. It is now time for everyone in the industry to step up. Delivering this is too important to get wrong – missed appointments, technical delays and poor customer service cannot continue.”

It seems to be a catch 22 situation for independent energy suppliers. On the one side, Ofgem are threatening fines for not installing fast, and on the other meter suppliers are asking them to take a dip in their rollout programme so that appointments can be met.

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