Smart Meters Bill — House of Commons, 2018-02-05
Topic: Mixed Topics
Eleanor Fulton Laing (Conservative, Centre-right): With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 2—Review: Use of powers to support technical development— "(1) Within 12 months of this Act coming into force, the Secretary of State shall commission a review which shall consider how the extended use of powers provided for in section 1 will support the technical development of smart meters, with reference to— (a) alternative solutions for Home Area Network connections where premises are not able to access the HAN using existing connection arrangements, (b) hard to reach premises (2) The Secretary shall lay the report of the review in subsection (1) before each House of Parliament." This new clause would require the Secretary of State to review how the extension of powers will support technical development of smart meters. New clause 3—Review: Use of powers to support rollout of smart meters— "(1) Within 12 months of this Act coming into force, the Secretary of State shall commission a review which shall consider how the extended use of powers provided for in section 1 will support the rollout of smart meters, with reference to— (a) providing for efficient removal and disposal of old meters, (b) reviewing the exemptions for smaller suppliers from a legally binding requirement to roll out smart meters (2) The Secretary of State shall lay the report of the review in subsection (1) before each House of Parliament." This new clause would require the Secretary of State to review how the extension of powers supports the rollout of smart meters. New clause 4—Review of smart meter rollout targets— "(1) Within 3 months of this Act coming into force, the Secretary of State must prepare and publish a report and a cost benefit analysis relating to the Smart Meter Implementation programme and lay a copy of the report before Parliament (2) The report under subsection (1) shall consider— (a) progress towards the 2020 completion target; (b) smart meter installation cost; (c) the number of meters operating in dummy mode; (d) the overall cost to date of the DCC; (e) the projected cost of the DCC; and (f) such other matters as the Secretary of State considers appropriate." This new clause would require the Secretary of State to publish details about the cost and progress of the smart meter rollout with reference to the 2020 deadline. New clause 5—Requirement on suppliers to provide information on cost of smart meter programme to consumers— "(1) The Energy Act 2008 is amended as follows (2) At the end of section 88(3) (power to amend licence conditions etc: smart meters), insert— ‘(m) provision requiring the holder of a supply licence to include information with consumer bills on the cost to consumers of the Smart Meter Implementation Programme.’" This new clause would allow the Secretary of State by order to amend licence conditions so that energy suppliers are required to include the cost to the customer of the Smart Meter Programme in all customer energy bills for the period covered by the energy bill. New clause 6—Smart Meter Implementation Programme: review of cost to consumers— "(1) Within 3 months of this Act coming into force, the Secretary of State shall commission an independent review of the cost to the consumer of the Smart Meter Implementation Programme (2) The review under subsection (1) shall include— (a) a breakdown of the costs to consumers of component parts of the Smart Meters Implementation Programme including the cost of the DCC; (b) the potential benefits to consumers of information on the cost of the Smart Meter Implementation Programme being included on energy bills and statements; (c) a longitudinal estimate of the cost to consumers to date and the projected future cost of the Programme; and (d) such other matters as the Secretary of State considers appropriate (3) The Secretary of State must lay a report of this review before both Houses of Parliament as soon as practicable after its completion." This new clause would require the Secretary of State to commission an independent review of the cost to the consumer of the Smart Meter Implementation Programme that must consider the potential benefits to consumers of including a summary of the cost on their energy bills and statements. Amendment 2, in clause 1, page 1, line 12, at end insert— "(c) in section 56FA(3) after "including" insert "the supply of such meters to energy companies and" This amendment would allow the Secretary of State by order to add "the supplying of smart meters to energy companies" to the list of licensable activities. Amendment 3, page 1, line 19, at end insert— "(c) in section 41HA(3) after "including" insert "the supply of such meters to energy companies and" This amendment would allow the Secretary of State by order to add "the supplying of smart meters to energy companies" to the list of licensable activities. Amendment 1, in clause 6, page 6, line 27, at end insert— "(15) Prior to making modifications under this section the Secretary of State shall commission an independent evaluation on the potential impact the modifications available to the Secretary of State to secure funding of smcl administration could have on consumer energy prices and shall lay the report of the evaluation before each House of Parliament." This amendment would require that, before considering modifications to ensure funding of smcl administration, the Secretary of State must seek independent evaluation of the impact such modifications would have on consumer energy prices.