Energy Suppliers given more time as new smart meter rollout obligations deferred until January 2022
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has announced that the new smart meter rollout obligations that were due to come into force on July 1st have been deferred to January 1st, 2022.
Why the change of date?
The decision was made following a consultation between the BEIS and energy suppliers who requested that the introduction of the new obligations be pushed back in order for them to get into a stronger position following the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The measures in place that state suppliers should take ‘all reasonable’ steps to install smart meters into their customers property will now stay in effect until the end of 2021.
The new obligations that will set strict smart meter rollout targets to energy suppliers will come into force at the beginning of 2022 unless there are any more unforeseen disruptions to the suppliers.
Also read: Are you ready for the new smart meter rollout obligations?
More time to prepare
The six month extension will allow energy suppliers to prepare for stepping up their smart meter rollout plans as well as giving the wider industry more time to prepare the new framework and build-up momentum for the market wide rollout.
Energy suppliers have struggled to hit their smart meter installation targets due to a variety of factors such as mistrust in the technology by consumers and numerous technical hitches.
The BEIS stated that it expects all energy suppliers to make full use of the extra time they’ve been given to resolve any capacity constraints and get themselves fully prepared to hit their smart meter rollout targets in January 2022.
Currently the UK has 44% smart meter coverage meaning that industry still has a lot of work to do in order to hit the objective of getting a smart meter in every domestic and non-domestic properties across the nation.
According to forecasts the penetration figure will rise to 49% by the end of 2021 if there are no more nationwide lockdowns caused by the ongoing Covid-19 situation.
Failure to hit the targets set by Ofgem will likely see suppliers punished financially.
To help energy suppliers increase the number of smart meter installations read our tips on how to debunk the most common smart meter myths HERE.
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Further Reading
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