Hansard

I congratulate Beatrice Wishart on securing this debate on the motion, to which I was a signatory. Much has been said about smart meters—often about their unreliability—but, as has been said, at the end of June, the radio teleswitch service that connects to some people’s meters is being switched off.

Now I take myself and my head into the uncomfortable area, for me, of technology. Here we go. The difference between the position in Scotland and the north of England and that in the south of England is that in the midlands, Wales and southern England all smart meters use cellular technology, similar to mobile phones, to send data to energy providers. In the north of England and Scotland, the situation is different—I say to Tim Eagle that it is the same in the north of England. Here, as in the north of England, there is a long-range radio signal. What I do not understand is why, when the radio teleswitch service is switched off at the end of June, it will be replaced with another long-range radio signal. In Scotland, smart meters will run on that new radio signal and not on the public internet or wi-fi. I hope that that is so far so good, because my head is already birling.

What is the impact? Currently, more than 6,000 households in the Borders and more than 700 in Midlothian have yet to switch. That is bad enough. Besides that, the impact on too many of my constituents is that, even if they want to, they will not be able to connect to a smart meter system, because they cannot receive the new radio signal in their location. I have many constituents in that position. Scottish Power, for example, has advised that it will install instead a white meter. Meters must change because, without a new meter, people’s heating and hot water will be affected. They may find that their heating and hot water are always on or off, or that charging happens at the wrong time of day. Their electricity supplier will not be able to confirm how much electricity they have used for heating and other uses, which means that electricity costs could be much higher for them than before.

If someone’s area has a poor signal, their supplier must still replace their RTS meter to ensure that their heating is not disrupted. I am back in the technical maze again. If someone does not have a smart meter and currently has an RTS meter, they may be on a tariff that charges them a different price for the electricity that they use for their heating and hot water than it does for the rest of their electricity, such as for lighting and appliances. Some tariffs also offer lower rates at specific times of the day. That is a good thing, but it all changes after June.

After June, without a new meter, people’s heating and hot water will be affected. A smart meter would ensure that their heating was not disrupted but, if that is not possible, the provider—Scottish Power, for example—can install a white meter with the tariff pre-programmed. I emphasise that it is pre-programmed. People will have to send in manual readings and will not get the full benefits of a smart meter or any other kind of meter, but at least their heating will continue to work.

The trouble is that most white meters charge a slightly higher daytime price compared with a standard tariff, so it is very likely that people will end up paying a lot more. That brings us beyond the technology to the fact that Scotland is doing badly out of this different system. In the event that it is not possible to install a smart meter, people will perhaps be paying more on the pre-programmed tariff. They have to be the kind of person who does not mind cooler water in the evenings. The system will heat most of their water at night and store it in a storage heater, so their hot water will be hot in the morning and coolest in the evening. However, as I said, most white meters charge a higher tariff for daytime usage, which will apply to many older people and disabled people.

We end up with this technology, with too many of my constituents having to opt for a metering system that is more expensive. That is a bitter pill when the wind turbines around them are producing four times more electricity than the south of Scotland uses. They endure a landscape of pylons, but they pay more for the electricity that is generated on their doorstep.