Extension to advanced meter deployment to go ahead

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (Decc) is to go ahead with a proposed extension to the time period suppliers are allowed to install traditional advanced meters in small business properties during the smart meter rollout.

Five of the six big energy suppliers responded to a consultation that closed in January this year, agreeing to the proposed legal drafting on the transition to SMETS2 meters.

However one also reiterated concerns previously raised about the different end-dates for small and large suppliers, saying this had the “potential to disadvantage large suppliers” and “would not allow for a level playing field across the industry”.

It also said the retention of the cut-off point of April 6 2016 for contracts that allow suppliers to continue installing advanced meters after the installation cut-off point was “overly complicated and could lead to confusion among consumers, suppliers and other industry participants”.

The government consulted last year on plans to extend the point at which advanced meters can be installed, without a pre-agreed contract, from April 6 2016 to April 28 2017 for large suppliers and August 17 2017 for small suppliers to avoid a “potential slowdown” in installations while suppliers wait for SMETS2 models of smart meters to become readily available.

The extension dates were put forward after Decc’s initial plan to retain the original cut-off point saw a widespread backlash from industry during consultation.

Energy suppliers have already been given until 1 August 2017 to install SMETS1 meters in domestic properties before they must start deploying SMETS2 specification meters.

Decc said the split end-date would be retained as small suppliers “may face issues” in accessing SMETS2 meters after the Data and Communications Network goes live compared to large suppliers, while large suppliers were expected to drive the rollout.

Decc said the amended legal text will now be laid in Parliament for approval.