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 5 February 2018 to Question 125469, what the difference is between the installation cost figures used in the 2016 cost-benefit analysis update and energy suppliers’ current data on installation costs; and what effect the current data on installations will have on his policy on smart meter installation.

The 2016 Cost-Benefit Analysis shows that after all costs have been considered, the rollout of smart meters overall is set to deliver £5.7bn of benefits over the lifetime of the programme. The Cost-Benefit analysis took account of real-world data on installations from energy suppliers.

The Department plans to update its Cost-Benefit analysis in 2019, informed by the latest available costs.