Energy companies 'making switching more difficult', ex-minister warns

The energy retail sector was slammed for the way it was rolling out smart meters on Monday, with a former energy secretary accusing companies of installing meters that made it more difficult for customers to switch suppliers.

Liberal Democrat ex-energy secretary Sir Edward Davey, who was among those who spearheaded the nationwide smart meter rollout, said retailers were using incompatible smart meters to create a barrier to switching suppliers.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Davey - who held the position in the coalition government between 2012 and 2015 - said energy retailers would be keen to create a barrier to switching.

“There is a risk here that the incumbents are abusing the power to create a captive market,” he told the newspaper.

Sir Edward said he was “genuinely worried” that what was intended to increase competition and lower bills could lead to less competition and elevated charges for customers.

Energy retailers were given job of rolling out the government’s £11bn smart meter programme following Westminster lobbying by the ‘big six’ firms.

As a result of the meters being provided by the retailers themselves, compatibility issues have cropped up and customers have reportedly found their meters stop communicating their energy use after switching to a supplier that uses different hardware.

A second generation of smart meters, known as Smets2, would solve the compatibility issue by implementing a common protocol for the way the smart meters work.

The Smets2 rollout was supposed to be ready to start before 2014, but by January of this year, only 80 of the devices had been installed nationwide.

In their respective statements to the Telegraph, neither energy retailer representative body Energy UK or the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy addressed Sir Edward’s concerns directly.

Rather, they repeated the same benefits of smart meters that have been touted since the roll-out began.

The 'big six' includes Centrica's British Gas, EDF Energy, German-owned E.ON, Npower, Scottish Power and SSE. The planned merger between SSE's retail arm and Npower is currently being investigating by the Competition & Markets Authortiy.