Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Baroness Verma said;
“Smart meters put power into the hands of consumers, bringing an end to estimated billing and helping people understand their energy use.
“The nationwide roll-out is part of the Government’s complete overhaul of the UK’s energy infrastructure which will revolutionise the market and support the development of smarter electricity grids. It will help reduce consumer bills, enable faster, easier switching and give households control at the touch of a button.”
Costs:
- Smart metering is an investment programme to modernise our metering system.
- Ultimately, what consumers will see on their bill is the combination of the investment costs and the cost savings that arise from the roll-out of smart metering. Moreover, as is the case now with traditional metering equipment, there will be no upfront charge to the consumer for having a smart meter installed.Even taking full account of these costs, at a per household level the combinations of costs and savings from smart metering leads to an energy bill reduction of £26 per year by 2020, rising to around £43 per year by 2030. This is based on the average dual fuel domestic consumer.
- The total cost of this national infrastructure programme is expected to be £10.9bn. The cost of the programme is only one part of the equation. It is important to assess the £10.9bn of costs alongside the £17.1bn of benefits the programme delivers. In other words, over £6bn of net benefits: a very positive business case for GB
