The Department of Energy and Climate Change will tomorrow (Wednesday) announce plans to fit every home in Britain with a smart meter by 2020. Ministers claim the new meters will help people cut their energy bills and their carbon footprint.
However, Joel Hagan, the chief executive of Onzo, helps utilities build more valuable relationships with their customers, said that smart meters on their own were “virtually useless” for consumers.
“While smart meters will result in more accurate bills, they will not provide people with the information they need to manage their energy usage and cut costs,” he said.
“Consumers will only chage their energy consumption if they can understand how much energy they are using when they switch on the kettle or put the washing machine on.”
He added: “The Government should make it compulsory for utilities to provide customers with this kind of information – but they should not dictate the way they do it.
“Energy suppliers should be able to decide for themselves how that information is delivered. Energy displays, websites, printed reports and existing channels like email and text messages all have a role to play.”