Yselkla Farmer, CEO of BEAMA, has commented on BBC Panorama’s GB Smart Meter documentary.
Yselkla said: “Today’s BBC Panorama coverage released on the GB Smart Meter rollout draws close attention to issues BEAMA have been raising for a long time. The speed of the rollout is increasingly too slow and close to reaching a point that is unsustainable for the manufacturing supply chain to service with confidence. We have already seen some metering businesses leave the UK, and we don’t want more to follow.
“There is an urgent need to ensure greater accountability for the issues identified in non-working systems, and this can only be driven by urgent action from the government. A review of the program needs to address this question of accountability as well as consider additional options for improved communications. This needs to be done to build back trust while continuing to increase the speed of the rollout.
“As an industry we are continually innovating. The smart meter rollout is similar to the mobile phone industry – no one could have imagined the potential of this technology when it was first designed, but now it is difficult to conceive of a low carbon, low cost energy system without smart meter data underpinning it. We can now do things on our phone we couldn’t dream of 10 years ago. The technology will evolve and the program should remain open to this evolution which will in turn help manage faults going forward.
“We must complete the rollout to ensure all consumers can be engaged in a fair and equitable flexible energy market. We can’t decarbonise our energy system and ensure UK energy security if consumers are unable to access the benefits of renewable energy and variable off peak pricing. Let’s get the programme back on track and resolve faults as a matter of absolute urgency.”