What are the advantages of smart meters?

Previously, the government had set the target for all homes and small businesses in the UK to be fitted with a smart meter by 2020.

Obviously, this hasn’t happened for several reasons and as a result, energy suppliers are coming under increasing pressure to encourage their consumers to adopt smart meters by the new target of 2024.

With the push for cleaner energy and better efficiency the drive to appease the environmentalists has increased markedly. With the installation of the 4 millionth second generation smart meter the industry is one step closer to hitting the government set target.

“We connected the millionth smart meter in May 2019, and since then we’ve quadrupled the number. This milestone reflects the efforts of all involved in the roll-out, including the energy companies and network operators, and those working with us to deliver and operate the network. The progress we’re seeing is also a sign of consumers across Britain making a conscious decision to make their household greener. Our network is a platform for good, and the data flowing across it is paving the way for better use of renewable energy. We believe in making Britain more connected so we can all lead smarter greener lives,” said Smart DCC CEO Angus Flett.

From security concerns to possible worries over the impact on people’s health, there are a wealth of concerns voiced by consumers when it comes to Smart Meters. There are doubts over just how effective they are at saving people money and energy too.

As a supplier, you may just roll your eyes and shrug at these worries, but you shouldn’t. These are legitimate concerns voiced by consumers up and down the country.

As a supplier, you need to understand these fears and educate yourselves as to whether any of them have any basis in fact. There’s a tonne of research out there that disproves many of these concerns, so use it.

No consumer must adopt a smart meter (yet) so to make things easier you need to highlight the advantages they bring and explain them objectively and professionally.

Smart meters provide consumers with far more control and insight on their energy use allowing them to get a grip on their usage and in turn could save them some money. However, you need to ensure that the customer has a realistic expectation of what the smart meter can do. There has been a lot of negative press about just how much of a benefit they are to consumers. A report released at the end of last year showed that just 1 in 3 customers with smart meters saw any benefits at all.

One of the biggest advantages that a supplier should point out to their customers is that by installing one they will gain access to tariffs exclusively available to smart customers. With the push towards electric vehicles (EVs) set to accelerate over the next few years a supplier could promote and offer exclusive EV charging tariffs.

Smart meters can also help consumers make positive changes to their behaviour when it comes to their energy use. By being able to see exactly how much energy they’ve used over a space of time they will be better informed and can change their habits accordingly such as not leaving the lights on in an empty room or turning a TV off properly rather than leaving it on standby.

It’s not just consumers that benefit from Smart Meters, there’s plenty of advantages for Energy supply companies too.

One of the biggest benefits is that they eliminate the need to rely on customers providing manual meter readings.

Often these can be inaccurate resulting in overcharging which in turn leads to customer complaints and a possible rap on the knuckles by the energy regulator Ofgem.

Smart meters negate this risk allowing accurate readings and in theory reducing the likelihood for errors being made.

Being able to see patterns in customer energy usage a supplier can tailor tariffs to attract new customers and better reward current ones.

Being able to effectively compete on pricing is one of the keys for an energy supplier to become successful.

Smart meters also allow a supplier insight into what times customers most need their assistance allowing them to tailor customer support services to their customers' needs.

Energy suppliers don’t have the option to not install smart meters. If they fail to install enough than Ofgem will penalise them.

In the past energy, suppliers have been hit with eye wateringly high fines for not installing them fast enough and missing deadlines.

New suppliers can also be banned from taking on any new customers until they sign up and become a DCC user.

The challenge for suppliers is to get smart meters into as many homes and small businesses as possible and demonstrate that they’ve tried to do so. If they can’t do that then Ofgem might just deem them as being non-compliant.

At the end of the day, it’s up to the consumer whether they have a smart meter or not.

If they refuse, then make it clear that they can change their mind at any time.

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