CONSUMER ACCESS TO SMART METERS

Early day motion 1850, tabled 13 July 2009 by David Anderson (Labour). Signed by 52 members.

That this House welcomes the announcement by the Government to equip all homes with smart meters by 2020; notes that smart meters will be a significant step forward in reducing the UK's energy use and that smart meters will greatly benefit the fuel poor; further notes that smart meters will create significant recurring savings for the utility companies that far exceed the cost of installation and operation of smart meters through ending the need to dispatch meter readers and estimate bills, whilst reducing significantly the call centre requirements and providing better load management through smart grid applications; and therefore calls on the Government to ensure that the big six energy companies, British Gas, Eon, EDF, Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern and npower are unable to pass on any additional cost for the installation and ongoing running of smart meters to the consumer over and above what is already charged in the standing charge for basic metering, thereby requiring those companies to behave like smaller energy providers such as First Utility, who provide smart meters to their customers free of charge.

Signatures by party: Labour 29, Liberal Democrat 12, DUP 4, Independent 2, Scottish National Party 2, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, Conservative 1.