Citizens Advice Response to Ofgem’s Statutory Consultation – Extending protections for non-E7 restricted meter customers (SLC 22G)
Citizens Advice welcomes Ofgem’s proposal to extend SLC22G, and introduce a new provision to be able to extend the protections further if needed. It’s essential that these consumers are not disadvantaged by delays to the smart meter rollout.
To tackle these issues, we think an assessment of a suppliers knowledge of the remedy, and ability to take on restricted meter customers under a single rate arrangement, should be included as part of the new threshold assessments proposed in the Supplier Licence Review. We also welcome the recent compliance activity by Ofgem in relation to a supplier that had not met its obligations in this area.
In the longer term, the rollout of smart meters should remove the need for the remedy for most customers. However, there will be a portion of customers who are in areas that the smart metering infrastructure does not reach or whose property types prevent the successful installation and use of smart meters. As such this will remain a relevant issue for some consumers even after the smart meter rollout has concluded for the majority of homes.