Energy body hits back at "misleading" lobbying claims

The chief executive of the Energy Retail Association (ERA) has hit back at reports that the body is lobbying government not to provide households with digital displays that would allow them to measure energy use.

As part of plans to roll out smart energy meters to all households by 2020 the government is currently examining proposals on which display units should be used to impart information to homeowners.

A report in The Times today claimed that ERA, which represents energy suppliers, is lobbying ministers to scrap proposals to install wireless digital displays that cost £15 each, can be placed anywhere around the home and tell people exactly how much their energy is costing them.

But Garry Felgate, chief executive of the ERA, slammed the report as highly misleading.

"The energy industry has always maintained that customers need a display of energy information in order to gain the maximum benefits from smart meters," he said in a statement. "However, the ERA and its members firmly believe that energy companies should not be restricted to providing a 'one size fits all' device over the next 12 years and should be allowed to offer customers precisely the kind of display they would find most useful."

Rather than single mandated wireless display, the ERA said customers could receive information on their energy use through a variety of different technologies, including their mobile phone, a digital TV page, or their PC.

Research by the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University shows that in-home energy display monitors can help people reduce their fuel bills by between five and 15 per cent. A similar study from analyst IDC also found that in-home display units can cut energy use by between four and 15 per cent off, although no research has yet been done on the relative effectiveness of different methods of display.

Joel Hagan, chief executive of energy display manufacturer Onzo, said that there was a valid case for energy use data being delivered through a number of different channels.

"Different types of information suit different channels," he said. " Real-time information suits a dedicated display; community information and the ability to analyse data suits the web; alerts suit SMS; while historical information suits a printed format."