UK Delays Smart Meter Plan

Full-Scale Roll-Out Now Planned for 2015

LONDON — The United Kingdom has delayed a plan that would put smart energy meters in 30 million homes, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced.

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the Rt. Hon. Edward Davey Mp said in a statement that the government determined more time was needed for the implementation of the program.

“The consistent message was that more time was needed if the mass rollout was to get off to the best possible start and ensure a quality experience for consumers. We therefore now expect suppliers to be ready to start their full scale roll-out by autumn 2015, supported by the DCC [common data and communication infrastructure] services,” Davey said.

“Completing the national rollout will be an enormous logistical and technical challenge for the industry, involving visits to around 30 million homes and small businesses and installing over 50 million meters. To this end, and reflecting the extended period to build and test the systems required by industry, the government has decided to move the completion date for the mass rollout from end 2019 to end 2020, although I expect the vast majority of smart meters to be in place against the original 2019 deadline. Getting this right for consumers is the government’s priority and this package of proposals will give consumers and industry the confidence they need.”

Energy and Climate Change Minister Baroness Verma said she wants to make sure the industry gets it right for consumers, hence the delay.

“I want to ensure that consumers have a good experience of smart metering from day one,” she said.

Publication date: 6/3/2013

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