Smart metering policy framework post 2025 - Section Three: Monitoring progress and ensuring accountability - Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Section Three: Monitoring progress and ensuring accountability

Alongside providing a degree of flexibility to the sector, government recognises the need to ensure continued monitoring of progress and accountability to ensure obligations to install smart meters and ensure they are operating correctly are met.

12. Do you agree that we should require energy suppliers to provide Ofgem with annual deployment plans and report progress against those deployment plans, with annual milestones setting out what activities they will undertake each year for the domestic sector, to meet their smart meter installation, pre-emptive replacement, and operational obligations?

If you disagree, please suggest alternative approaches that would enable monitoring and achieve accountability to ensure energy suppliers take sufficient action each year to meet the obligations set out in Sections One and Two of the consultation. We welcome views from all stakeholders. Please provide rationale and evidence to support your answer. (Required)

13. Do you agree that (a) the annual milestones for new installations and pre-emptive replacements should be binding and without tolerances, and (b) the annual milestone for smart meters operating in traditional mode should be non-binding?

We welcome views from all stakeholders. Please provide rationale and evidence to support your answer. (Required)

14. Do you agree that energy suppliers should (a) be required to submit updated deployment plans annually, and (b) be able to request re-submission to Ofgem in-year, in response to exceptional events that have a significant and negative impact on their ability to meet their annual milestones?

We welcome views from all stakeholders. Please provide rationale and evidence to support your answer. (Required)

15. Do you agree that the date from which the annual milestones for new installations and pre-emptive replacements should be binding is 1 January 2027?

If you disagree, please provide an alternative earliest date, including rationale for how this would be achieved. (Required)

16. Do you agree with the following measures to ensure deployment plans are of high quality and provide confidence that suppliers will meet their obligations?

a) Ofgem should be given the option to reject the plan and the option to provide guidance to suppliers on when it might reject the plan? We welcome views from all stakeholders. Please provide rationale and evidence to support your answer. (Required)

b) That suppliers should be required to provide evidence to support justification of the annual milestones, including justification for any numerical difference between the milestones provided for new installations and pre-emptive replacements, and a straight-line path to the relevant end-date, and supporting information on workforce and consumer engagement? Are there additional quantitative or qualitative information requirements that should be included in the deployment plan to support the assessment and justification of milestones? We welcome views from all stakeholders. Please provide rationale and evidence to support your answer. (Required)

c) Do you agree that each supplier’s deployment plan should be (a) approved by the supplier’s Board and (b) milestones and progress against those milestones published on the supplier’s website? We welcome views from all stakeholders. Please provide rationale and evidence to support your answer. (Required)

d) If you disagree, with Q16. a), b) or c), are there alternative or additional design approaches that would reduce the risk of activities concentrated towards the end-dates within the plan and/or to subsequent revisions to that plan? We welcome views from all stakeholders. Please provide rationale and evidence to support your answer. (Required)

17. Do you agree that all energy suppliers, except those that supply gas or electricity, or both, to domestic sector customers via, in each case, fewer than 20,000 energy meter points should be required to submit deployment plans?

We welcome views from all stakeholders. Please provide rationale and evidence to support your answer. (Required)