What's wrong with SMETS1 smart meters?
There was a lot of media coverage last weekend around the Smart meter rollout, following the publication of a report by the British Infrastructure Group of MPs which criticised the costs, along with the technical aspect of continuing roll out of ‘obsolete’ first generation (SMETS1) Smart meters.
At Good Energy, we had previously decided not to roll out SMETS1 meters due to the ‘commercial interoperability’ challenges you may have read about. It isn’t environmentally responsible to install meters that could turn ‘dumb’ when a customer switches and potentially be scrapped and replaced.
Instead, our planned Smart programme, based on second generation, ‘SMETS2’ meters and other advanced integration technology, will give our customers the option to monitor energy usage via an app on their smartphone. This will eliminate the need for a display in the home, further reducing waste and the associated environmental footprint.
The report singled out energy suppliers in its recommendation, and also called out the companies that provide the meters themselves for the prices they charge for rental. Good Energy has worked hard to negotiate the best deal for our customers during the SMETS2 rollout, but scrutiny of the way that rental costs are calculated and contracted is welcome.
At Good Energy, we are working hard to ensure that we present our customers with an ethical, fairly priced Smart offering and are looking forward to sharing more details on our programme later in the year.
In the meantime, we hope that scrutiny over the costs of the programme are focussed in the areas that most need it.
