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Energy retailers have been given a 12-month extension to replace old smart meters, the government has confirmed to Utility Week.
Suppliers have an obligation to replace SMETS1 meters that cannot, for technical reasons, be enrolled onto the Data Communications Company’s (DCC) network.
Retailers initially had until 31 December this year to do this but following a consultation it was decided they would be unable to achieve this target.
While the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) could not give an answer as to how many devices need to be physically replaced, as spokesperson said they are in the minority of overall meters.
Meanwhile there is another obligation on suppliers to enrol their SMETS1 meters onto the DCC’s network so they are able to properly function. The deadline for this remains 31 December 2022.
So far almost 10 million SMETS1 meters have been successfully moved to the DCC network and there are 5 million more to migrate.
Yet according to DCC’s own figures just 313,585 meters were migrated in May this year, and even fewer in June (155,343).
Commenting on the rollout Penny Brown, DCC’s chief operating officer, said: “Almost 10 million SMETS1 meters have been moved to the DCC network, virtually all of them ‘over the air’ without any disruption to energy consumers.
“This is a brilliant milestone in what has been one of the most highly complex IT migrations.”
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