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by Brendan Coyne
Suppliers should not be allowed to back-bill customers if smart meters do not provide them with accurate bills, according to Consumer Focus.
The watchdog said some early adopters were still not getting accurate bills. Not allowing suppliers to back-bill customers “gives suppliers a real incentive to get it right”, said Zoe McLeod, head of smart and sustainable energy markets.
Speaking at a recent SBGI forum in London, McLeod said the watchdog and suppliers also “had a difference of opinion” over the role of the smart metering Central Delivery Body (CDB).
Whereas suppliers want it to support the smart meter rollout, Consumer Focus wants its role to be broader, including responsibilities to support behaviour change and promote energy efficiency as well as co-ordination of outreach work to vulnerable customers. That would enable third parties such as local authorities to engage with the programme through a single point of contact, rather than six large suppliers, nine small suppliers and myriad non-domestics, said McLeod.
Consumer Focus said a more co-ordinated approach would also deliver cost efficiencies because it meant outreach work, for example, could be done in one go.
Without extra objectives the CDB could become a “glorified PR body”, said the watchdog.
McLeod called for the government to trial different approaches in towns in the three smart meter communications regions. She said that would also enable end-to-end system testing by suppliers and industry. “We’re not calling for an area-based rollout but we think the savings that could be delivered through working together should be looked at,” she said.
· New EU data protection regulations will “directly impact the UK smart meter rollout”, suppliers were warned at the same conference.
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This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 15 June 2012.
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