Energy: Meters

(asked on 7th December 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2022 to Question 93695, on Energy: Meters, if he will require Ofgem to collect and publish data on (a) numbers of customers whose energy suppliers have switched their smart meters from credit mode to prepayment in the past year and (b) numbers of customers who have been left without energy supply as a result of an energy supplier's decision to switch smart meters from credit mode to prepayment in the past year.


Answered by
Graham Stuart Portrait
Graham Stuart
Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This question was answered on 29th December 2022

The independent regulator Ofgem collects and publishes a range of data on prepayment meters. It has also provided data on the number of customers whose energy suppliers have switched their smart meters from credit mode to prepayment in the past year. I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member for Newport East on 9th November 2022 to Question 75843.

Ofgem is responsible for ensuring suppliers comply with their regulatory obligations, which include particular protections for vulnerable consumers, or those in payment difficulty. The Government supports the steps Ofgem is taking to ensure compliance, including in response to its Market Compliance Review into customers struggling with bills.

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