The Chief Executive Officer of Utilita Energy has called for urgent action to ban outdated prepayment meters from the 1970s, citing their continued negative impact on an estimated 2.25 million households.
Bill Bullen welcomed the acknowledgement from consumer protection groups, Citizens Advice and the Committee for Fuel Poverty, of Utilita’s evidence highlighting the hardships faced by vulnerable and fuel poor households using old-style key and card PAYG meters.
Expressing concern over the lack of significant action despite a decade of warnings, Mr Bullen emphasised the necessity for immediate intervention to prevent millions from “suffering in silence.”
Bill Bullen said: “Despite attending a roundtable Utilita hosted in December 2022, which called for a ban on the inferior and outdated meters, industry stakeholders have taken no meaningful action. In fact, Ofgem has lowered the bar in terms of suppliers’ smart installation targets.
“Citizens Advice’s latest consumer action plan acknowledges the benefits of a smart meter for prepayment households but refers to prepayment households being reluctant to accept one.
“As a specialist Smart PAYG supplier we have experienced few issues with smart-enabling 95% of our customer base. I simply cannot accept that customers are the main barrier here.
“This is why I’m calling on the regulator to introduce an immediate ban on the installation of old-style meters, and to mandate suppliers to prioritise smart meter installations for prepayment households to stop the suffering in silence.”
Energy Live News has contacted Ofgem for comment.
