Smart Meter Roll out Halted by Coronavirus

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen the UK go into lockdown with millions of people now told to stay in their homes. As the infection rate and the death toll continues to rise, energy suppliers have announced that they will continue to work to resolve emergencies only.

Social distancing measures have meant that the installation of smart meters has had to be put on hold as entering homes and businesses makes it virtually impossible to avoid contact with other people.

“It is vital that people follow government regulations on what to do over the coming weeks. Unless you are a key worker, stay at home and practice good hand washing hygiene. Following the announcement of the national lockdown for non-essential workers, many energy suppliers will now cease or substantially reduce the number of smart meter installations they carry out, diverting staff to deal with emergencies and to assist vulnerable customers.” Smart Energy GB said.

The UK government had initially wanted smart meters rolled out to every domestic and small business property in the UK by the end of 2020, however, last summer due to complaints from energy suppliers that this target was impossible to achieve it was then pushed back to 2024 and the installation rate reduced to 85% of properties.

Now with the Covid-19 pandemic, even that target could be in doubt.

Smart meters are meant to save people money on their gas and electricity bills by providing suppliers with accurate meter readings, bringing an end to estimates.

“This will have an impact on the smart meter rollout, but these steps are the right response to help keep us all as safe and well as possible. Currently, all energy suppliers are following government, NHS and Public Health England guidelines in relation to all home visits.” Said Energy UK.

New figures released by Energy UK have shown that the number of customers switching their energy supplier increased by 20% with over a million switches being recorded in the first months of 2020.

According to the data February alone saw over half a million customers (558,836) move to a new supplier–a 23% increase when compared to February 2019.

“This a significant increase in switching numbers – hitting the one million mark in the first two months of the year shows that increasing number of consumers take advantage of the competitive and innovative services on offer by around 60 suppliers." Said Audrey Gallacher, Energy UK’s interim chief executive.

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