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

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to paragraph 36 of the Competition and Markets Authority report on energy market investigation published on 10 March 2016, if her Department will prioritise customers with dumb prepay meters in the smart meter rollout.

The Competition and Market Authority provisional decision on remedies published on 10 March 2016 recognises the key contribution smart metering will make to strengthening retail competition and consumer engagement in the energy market, but did not recommend prioritising the roll-out of smart meters to prepayment customers.

There is a clear incentive for suppliers to offer smart meters to prepayment customers early, because prepayment customers who have ‘traditional’ meters currently cost more to serve. A number of energy suppliers are already offering or trialling smart prepayment services and offering a more competitive range of prepay tariffs to consumers.