SSE Energy Services missed its target to install gas and electricity smart meters for customers in 2019. Ovo Energy, which acquired SSE Energy Services in January 2020, will pay out £1.2 million (US$1.6 million) for SSE Energy Services' historic issue.
Under the government's smart metering implementation program, suppliers are required by their license to take all reasonable steps to roll out smart meters to all homes and small businesses by mid-2021. To work toward this, suppliers set individual annual targets for smart meter installations and Ofgem monitors performance against these targets.
SSE Energy Services failed to meet its smart meter installation target for 2019, before it was acquired by Ovo Energy in 2020. Because of the voluntary payment of £1.2 million (US$1.6 million) to Ofgem's consumer redress fund, Ofgem has decided not to take formal enforcement action.
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.
Ofgem is closely monitoring suppliers' approaches to the rollout of smart meters and will use its discretion to hold suppliers to account if they do not meet their obligations.
In 2019, SSE Energy Services paid £700,000 (US$920,906) to the energy redress fund after it failed to meet its smart meter target for gas meters in 2018. In June 2020, in the light of COVID-19, the government announced that the current rollout obligation will be extended until June 30, 2021, and that a new obligation to roll out smart meters will commence on July 1, 2021, which will see the rollout continue until mid-2025.
