Utility Week

24 | 7TH - 13TH DECEMBER 2018 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets Opinion Extend the smart meter rollout There is no need to keep pushing for an arbitrary deadline when issues have yet to be resolved, says Dhara Vyas. D espite the recent National Audit Office (NAO) report criticising the rollout of smart meters, they are still an essential step toward modernising this country's energy infrastructure. The energy market is changing. There are major innovations and changes to the way we use energy coming down the road, including the increased uptake of electric vehicles, smart appliances, and products and services in our homes. Smart meters are the fundamental first step to people being able to access the benefits of these innovations. Smart meters are also essential for more prosaic developments – giving people accurate bills without having to submit meter readings, and transform- ing the experience of prepayment energy customers, with new ways to top up without having to physically go to the shops. The 2020 deadline by which every home is supposed to be offered a smart meter is fast approaching. With a further 39 million meters still to be installed, suppliers would need to rapidly scale up the speed at which meters are being installed to hit that deadline. The NAO has made clear that the government's 2020 target will not be met, and that the cost of the rollout "will likely escalate". As the official consumer and small business advocate for energy, Citizens Advice finds this deeply concerning. Earlier this year we called on the government to push this deadline back to 2023, and to be more transparent about the costs of the programme for people. We did this because we have serious concerns that poor consumer experience and escalating costs risk undermining public trust in what is an important technology. As the NAO points out, there will be 7.1 million more first generation smart meters (SMETS1) on walls than originally planned. This outcome is a direct result of the 2020 deadline and the pressure put on suppliers to install meters quickly. A continued commitment to this unrealistic deadline risks driving up costs further and leaving little time for major technical problems to be fixed. Chief among these problems is the Data Communications Company (DCC) – the communications network that will allow smart meters to communicate with suppliers and other services – which has been severely delayed. Yet the rollout deadline has not been extended to reflect this. Frustratingly, there was and there continues to be little need for the 2020 deadline to remain. As the NAO makes clear, the benefits of smart meters will largely be realised in the long term so there was no need for such an urgent rollout. Forthcoming research shows the public would far rather see value for money and a positive consumer experience than any deadline met. We have now reached a point where we don't have a clear picture of the overall costs of the programme, or a clear picture of whether the supposed ben- efits will materialise. Add to this the ongoing technical problems which mean the system for second generation (SMETS2) may be years away from being fully functional, and it's clear that government needs to take action. The government must now extend the rollout to 2023, publish an up-to-date cost-benefit analysis as soon as possible and outline how it plans to address ongoing technical problems Ultimately we believe that smart meters are in the best interests of consum- ers, but the challenges and delays the programme has faced and the 2020 deadline are not. Dhara Vyas, head of future energy services, Citizens Advice will motivate them to have a smart meter or smart technology in the future. Low-carbon technologies Levels of interest in low-carbon and renew- able energy technologies have increased since June's survey, with around one-third of respondents saying they would be either extremely or very interested in taking up such tech. However, despite high levels of interest, adoption has been slow, with 80 per cent still stating they do not own any of these low-carbon devices. The picture has been the same in previous surveys. A major barrier to adoption continues to be a lack of knowledge about the tech- nology but cost also plays a major part. As with smart technology, however, the picture among non-adopters is positive, with a sig- nificantly smaller proportion than in previ- ous surveys saying nothing would motivate them to purchase low-carbon technology in the future. The survey asked about individual low- carbon technologies and, of these, solar proved the most popular, with 11 per cent of respondents stating that they own solar panels currently. Battery storage came second, with 7 per cent claiming to own some form of on-site battery storage. Electric heat pumps showed the least uptake, with just 4 per cent saying they had adopted this tech. Asked about their reasons for not install- ing solar panels, a third of participants (35 per cent) said they worry about the costs in the short-term. However, most are willing to adopt this technology in the future if it is most cost-effective or cheaper. There has been a significant decrease in those saying nothing would motivate them to purchase. The story was similar for battery stor- age. Just over one-third of participants who hadn't adopted the technology said this was because they didn't know enough about it. Twenty per cent said it was because of cost, and 17 per cent said it was because they didn't feel they would need it. These are the same top three reasons as in the previous survey. Again, there has been a significant decline in those saying nothing would moti- vate them to take up the tech. This research clearly shows that consum- ers are warming to the idea of smart and renewable technology but work still needs to be done to encourage widespread adoption. A lack of knowledge and high prices are increasingly seen as barriers to adoption. Energy companies, therefore, either need to find a way to make such technology more affordable or demonstrate value for money by clearly communicating the return on investment and benefits that people get from having them, and then getting greater cut- through with this message. Until either is achieved, widespread adoption of these technologies is unlikely. continued from page 22

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