Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance his Department issues to farmers on steps to mitigate risks associated with smart meter failures.

We are not aware of any particular problems with the reliability of smart meters on farms, nor of them impacting the operation of automatic livestock feeders. Any customer experiencing issues with their smart meter should contact their energy supplier for further guidance.

Smart meters enable accurate billing by automatically recording consumers’ energy use in every half-hour period, allowing suppliers to bill based on consumers’ actual rather than estimated usage. They are replacing analogue gas and electricity meters as part of the national infrastructure upgrade needed to achieve the Government’s mission to build a flexible and decarbonised power system by 2030.