Smart meter ‘accountability gap’ appearing between DCC and suppliers

There is an “accountability gap” between the company underpinning the smart meter network and energy suppliers, Citizens Advice has warned.

Research by the consumer charity found 20% of households with a smart meter – 2.9 million – still had to regularly submit manual meter readings because their device was not functioning properly.

Nearly a third (31%) experienced issues with their in-home display (IHD), while a quarter of people who asked Citizens Advice for help with smart meter issues had billing problems.

The charity’s latest report raises concerns that it is not always clear to consumers where responsibility lies when issues arise with smart meters, such as a lack of functionality.

In order to properly function, smart meters send and receive data wirelessly via the Wide Area Network (WAN) which is operated by the Data Communications Company (DCC).

A number of reasons could result in smart meters not operating the way they should, such as issues with an energy supplier or the metering equipment, and there are sometimes issues with the WAN which may be the DCC’s responsibility to resolve.

Yet the report warns that when things do go wrong, consumers “often struggle to find out what the problem is, who’s responsible and how long it will take to fix it”.

“Consumer protections are also opaque. For example, Ofgem rules state that suppliers must ‘take all reasonable steps’ to ensure that smart meters are able to communicate between the consumer’s meter and the energy supplier. However this requirement does not apply if the WAN is not working for those meters. This means that if the supplier considers the problem to be with the WAN consumers may have little direct recourse to getting issues resolved,” it adds.

Furthermore, it says, the DCC has no consumer-facing role and consumers have no means to interact with it for help with smart meter issues.

As such, the report recommends that this “accountability gap” between suppliers and the DCC is closed.

It calls for better data about the performance of different companies that deliver the smart meter system to be published to improve understanding of where responsibility for faults lies.

It also suggests changes to the DCC’s price control which would see the DCC picking up the cost of suppliers’ compensation to customers following periods of a loss in smart functionality, where this is a result of issues with the WAN.

Other recommendations made in the report include:

• New ‘Guaranteed Standards’ that require suppliers to install and operate meters properly, investigate and address problems in a timely way, and provide compensation when this doesn’t happen
• A reduction in the amount of time consumers with smart meters can be ‘backbilled’ from 12 to 6 months, to protect them from shock bills if things go wrong
• New voluntary protections for all consumers with smart meters to be able to get In Home Displays fixed or replaced and be closely monitored to ensure all suppliers are addressing IHD issues promptly

Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “The whole point of smart meters is to empower households to save energy and money, but in reality millions are missing out on those benefits due to problems with technology and poor supplier service.

“Energy companies are very keen for customers to get a smart meter but when issues arise they are often nowhere to be found. That has to change.

“Suppliers have been far too sluggish in fixing issues with problem meters. New obligations and stronger accountability measures are needed to restore public trust in this vital tool to reach net zero.”

Responding to the findings, a DCC spokesperson said: “We recognise that some improvements to connectivity could still be made. DCC is working hard to develop and roll out the solutions to the issues within our control – for example, we have already put in place the measures that will ensure the operability of smart meters continues beyond the 2G and 3G switch-off, work that was recently awarded at the IoT Breakthrough Awards. We are committed to continuously improving our services and boosting our collaboration with energy suppliers as well as organisations like Citizens Advice in order to deliver the best results for consumers.”

Meanwhile Dhara Vyas, deputy chief executive at Energy UK, said: “Technical problems can prevent some meters from operating in smart mode and while this can be for reasons outside their control, suppliers still have an obligation to replace them when this happens.

“Customers may need to send manual meter readings until their supplier is able to fix the issue, which is often with the display unit rather than with the meter itself.

“Suppliers have every reason to try and ensure all their customers can enjoy the full benefits of smart meters which give households greater control and understanding of their energy usage. Nearly two-thirds of households now have a smart meter and we will continue to work with government, consumer bodies and suppliers to ensure the final stages of the roll-out further improve the customer experience for smart households.”

Last year six energy suppliers agreed to pay out almost £11 million after failing to hit their smart meter installation targets in 2022.

There was a total shortfall of more than one million smart installations after British Gas, Ovo, Bulb, Eon, Scottish Power and SSE fell short of their targets.