Energy minister gets a smart meter, six years after roll-out
CLAIRE PERRY, the energy minister, has only just had a smart meter installed in her home, six years after the Government’s roll-out began.
Meanwhile her boss, Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, is still “on the waiting list” to get one at his constituency home, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
Ministers have been urging householders to switch to smart meters, which allow suppliers to read in real time how much energy their customers are using.
They are meant to reduce energy usage and save consumers money by changing the way households use appliances.
However, there have been problems with some smart meters which go “dumb” when a supplier switches provider, meaning the device’s smart functions stop working.
Ofgem, the industry regulator, has also warned that installing a smart meter could stop households from accessing the best tariffs on the market.
More than 11 million smart meters have been installed since the roll-out began in 2012, according to data from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Yesterday, BEIS announced: “Another smart meter installed today, this time at energy minister Claire Perry’s house, giving her more control over her energy use.
“The great switch-off experiment has already started!”
It comes a week after Ms Perry acknowledged there have been issues with the smart meter roll-out.
“The dumb functionality will be erased,” she told The Telegraph.
“That will start by the end of this year and will be completed as soon as possible.”
Citizens Advice said the deadline for installing 53 million smart meters by 2020 was “unrealistic” and needed to be extended by three years to allow time to fix implementation problems.