One week to go until the end of the Energy White Paper 2007 consultation

- Energy Retail Association urges the government to commit fully to Smart Meter roll out to every UK home -

24 October 2007

With just seven days to go until the end of the consultation on the Energy Billing and Metering white paper, the Energy Retail Association is urging the Government to give a clear mandate to the energy supply industry to roll out Smart Meters across Great Britain. The energy industry supports the Energy Saving Trust’s Energy Saving Week (22-28 October) and believes that Smart Meters are the only way to ensure that energy consumption is permanently reduced.

Philip Sellwood, Chief Executive of the Energy Saving Trust states that: “During Energy Saving Week, it is vital that the government continues to show commitment to reducing energy consumption. Smart Meters are essential if we are to give consumers accurate information on their energy use, their energy cost and their carbon emissions.”

The Energy White Paper 2007 set out a number of policies on billing and metering and illustrates the government’s expectation that Smart Metering would be introduced to the domestic sector over the next decade. But it does not give the energy industry the legal framework it needs to roll out smart meters.

The Energy Retail Association is calling on the Government to mandate the roll-out of Smart Meters to every house in the UK which must happen if the industry is to work together to deliver smart meters in the most cost effective and time-efficient way. The Energy Retail Association fully supports the government’s objective of putting customers in the driving seat, but it believes that this can only happen if the latter makes an unambiguous commitment to Smart Meters.

Smart meters will mean that:

• Consumers will no longer have estimated bills. Instead they will have accurate bills and a real-time display of their energy use for gas and electricity.

• Consumers who generate their own electricity can sell their surplus energy back to the supplier. This saves the consumer money, and can ease demand on national supply.

• There will be a huge increase in tariff options suited to different types of consumer as energy suppliers will be able to monitor their customers’ use of energy in real time

• Consumers can start to change their energy use behaviour and make greener, smarter and more sustainable energy decisions.

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Notes to editors

• The Energy Retail Association (ERA), formed in 2003, represents Britain's domestic electricity and gas suppliers in the domestic market in Great Britain. All the main energy suppliers operating in the residential market in Great Britain are members of the association - British Gas, EDF Energy, npower, E.ON, Scottish Power, and Scottish and Southern Energy.

• The Energy White Paper, published in May 2007, supported the ERA's view that smart meters could be rolled out to 25 million homes for gas and electricity within 10 years. More information on the ERA’s work on smart meters can be found on our website at http://www.energy-retail.org.uk/smartmeters.html. The Energy White Paper can be downloaded from the DBERR website: http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/whitepaper/page39534.html.