The deadline for smart energy meter rollouts has been pushed back by the government until 2024, as energy suppliers have warned that the technology is not yet ready.
Smart meter suppliers had previously been given a deadline for the end of 2020, so this four-year delay means the cost of installing the new equipment may be likely to rise further, to more than £13bn in total.
Although customers are not obliged to have a smart meter fitted, energy firms must offer them to all UK households by the end of the new deadline.
These smart meters are in theory, supposed to make customers’ lives easier, with the promise of automatic readings, easier billing and new flexible charges, according to the BBC.
In practice, millions of people found that if they switched suppliers, their new meters did not work properly and millions more have not been given the technology at all.
The chief executive of Citizens Advice Gillian Guy said: "This new deadline gives suppliers time to fix ongoing technical problems and make sure customer service isn't sidelined as the rollout continues. We've seen some energy companies use aggressive techniques to try to persuade people to have smart meters fitted as soon as possible to meet the existing timeline."
There is still a public expectation that every household and business will be offered a smart meter by the end of 2020, as the Conservative Party pledged in their 2017 election manifesto that this would be the case.
The Minister for Climate Change, Lord Duncan of Springbank, said: "We remain on track for suppliers to offer every home a smart meter by the end of next year, but to maintain momentum beyond 2020 we are proposing strict yearly installation targets for suppliers from 2021. This will deliver even greater benefits for households and reduce emissions."
The new framework gives gas and electricity firms until the end of 2024 to install smart meters in at least 85% of their customers' homes.
USwitch.com's head of regulation Richard Neudegg said that public confidence in the smart meter programme had been "badly damaged", continuing: "This is now an opportunity to rebuild trust. In particular, people want proof that the solution which allows older smart meters to stay smart when a household switches supplier is finally available."
The first trial of smart meters in Northern Ireland was carried out in 2013 by University of Ulster. The Smart Meter Bill, as outlined in the Queen's Speech back in 2017, included an extension to the Government's ability to make changes to smart meter regulations by five years, "making sure the rollout is delivered effectively, and that benefits are maximised into the future".
Source: BBC News
