Ofgem
SSE pays £700,000 after missing gas smart meter target
SSE Energy Services, the domestic retail business of SSE, is to pay out £700,000 after it missed its target to install gas smart meters for customers in 2018.
Under the Government's smart meter roll-out programme, suppliers are required by law to take all reasonable steps to roll-out smart meters to all homes and small businesses by the end of 2020.
To work towards this, suppliers set individual annual targets for smart meters installations and Ofgem monitors performance against these targets.
SSE met its electricity smart meters installation target for 2018, but missed its gas target. It reached its gas target for 2018 in February this year, less than two months after the deadline.
SSE has agreed to pay £700,000 to Ofgem's consumer redress fund administered by the Energy Savings Trust, which supports consumers in vulnerable situations and the development of innovative products or services not currently available to energy consumers.
Due to the steps SSE has taken, Ofgem has decided not to take formal enforcement action.
Ofgem is closely monitoring suppliers' approaches to the roll-out of smart meters and will hold suppliers to account if they do not meet their obligations.
Notes to editors
· Larger energy suppliers (those with more than 250,000 customers) must set annual targets for the proportion of their customers that will have smart meters by the end of each year. These targets are commercially confidential.
· For more information about Ofgem's voluntary redress fund, see: Ofgem appoints Energy Saving Trust to distribute payments from rule-breaking energy companies to charities
· Smart meters help households control their energy use and save money. They mean that households will no longer have to take meter readings or be landed with bills based on estimated readings.
· For more on the smart meter programme, see our website.
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