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Energy billing and metering: changing customer behaviour

The Energy White Paper underlined the Government’s commitment to reducing carbon-dioxide emissions. Saving energy is a starting point for meeting both our short and long-term goals, and all sections of society can play a part by reducing energy consumption. The Energy White Paper set out a range of billing and measuring measures designed to give consumers direct access to information about their energy use to help them reduce energy consumption. The core proposals were:

• to promote awareness of domestic energy use through a requirement on energy suppliers to present consumption data on consumers’ bills to allow them to compare different periods of energy consumption.
• to promote awareness of domestic energy use through a requirement to provide customers with real-time display units so that they can see in real time, and in a way relevant to them, how much energy they are consuming and what it is costing.
• to ensure that business customers in those sectors of the market where it was now cost-effective would receive smart meters over the next five years.

The Energy White Paper also set out the Government’s expectations that smart metering would be provided to all business and domestic customers over the next decade.

The second consultation on billing and metering seeks further views on the policies presented in the Energy White Paper, whether it would be appropriate to apply those policies to smaller business. It also seeks views on options for the deployment of smart meters.

Following this consultation, the Government will issue a response to views expressed by consultees. Its intention is to make final proposals before the end of 2007.