Latest Government figures issued for the roll out costs for smart meter technology  has sky rocketed to £9billion.  Despite the potential energy saving costs for energy firms at around £300 Million a year, it seems these firms want the consumers to pay for the meters themselves.

At a cost of around £350 a meter, the money consumers save on energy will be eaten up by the costs of the meters.

Smart Meters are due to be installed in homes by 2020, while this is a decade behind the rest of the western world, it appears the Government is still thrashing out the best way to pay for the cost of installation and pandering to the energy firms tantrums.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change expects the costs of installation to be passed on to the poor consumer by way of higher bills.

Ironically Smart Meters are meant to save consumers money.  Energy prices are already crippling many consumers so this is just another slap in the face.  Many believe that the energy firms themselves should bear the costs of the Smart Meter installations.

It has been long suspected that the majority of the larger UK energy firms are not keen on a smart meter rollout.  The UK has, if not, the most competitive energy sector in the world, while this should normally be a good thing, it is becoming more apparent to it being a hindrance.

The Big 6 Energy Firms refuse to commit to lower prices notwithstanding the drop in wholesale energy prices, blaming it on raw material costs, yet despite the huge generation in renewables the energy firms here in the UK just don’t want to part with its cash.

It’s a catch 22 situation, as without smart energy technology and grid upgrades, micro generation feeding back into the grid will never be realised and the reliance on expensive raw material fuel generation will continue to rise, and ultimately so will the costs.  Smart Meters are a significant step to the UK being less reliant on foreign energy imports.  The Smart Meter overall reduce the energy consumption, simply because people will be more aware of what it is costing them on a minute by minute basis.
The petty arguments between energy firms and the UK government is nothing short of childish, not only is it ultimately harming the British consumers and economy, it is an embarrassment for the British innovators and companies who have invested heavily into smart energy technologies.

The repercussions of further delays are insurmountable.  Many firms across the UK are relying on the roll out to give them much needed new business, however while the rest of the world pump billions into the smart energy sector by way of incentives, funding and grants, the UK contemplates the next crisis.

© smartmeters.com. No Reproduction without permission.