Smart-meter rollout

sir – The Data Communications Company (DCC) provides the secure network on which the smart-meter rollout relies (“Missed targets shortcircuit smart-meter hopes”, Business, August 6).

It is true that lockdown interrupted installations of second-generation smart meters (Smets2), but thanks to the effort of our customers – the energy companies – we are now seeing a return to pre-covid daily installation rates. We have just passed 4.7 million Smets2 meters on the network.

Your article said that the costs of the rollout have “ballooned”, but the overriding reason for additional costs is the increased scope of our task since 2013. This includes connecting all firstgeneration smart meters, and our work for Ofgem’s vital Faster Switching programme. On efficiency, far from wasting money, the DCC has in fact realised £343 million of cashable savings in the past two years.

It is not true that 10 per cent of the second-generation meters have “failed”, implying some kind of enduring defunct status. In the past a tiny proportion of meters (considerably fewer than 1 per cent) have temporarily lost their connection with the network, but this is being rectified through a software upgrade without the need for an engineer visit.

We are proud to be providing the digital spine to Britain’s energy system. Our network will enable decarbonisation, accurate billing and more flexible energy use, benefiting consumers and businesses alike. Richard Mccarthy

Chairman, Data Communications Company

London EC3