Written question asked by Roger Williams (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 16 June 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 18 June 2009. It was answered by Joan Ruddock (Labour) on Monday, 22 June 2009 on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Energy: Meters

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the Government's latest estimate is of the average cost of installing a smart meter.

Answer: The Government published a consultation on smart metering on 11 May 2009 with an accompanying Impact Assessment (both documents are available from the Open Consultations section of the DECC website). The Impact Assessment contains estimates of smart meter installation costs.The estimated asset costs are £43 for a smart electricity meter and £56 for a smart gas meter. Installation costs are estimated at £29 for a smart electricity meter and £49 for a smart gas meter, or £68 for a dual fuel smart meter installation (where both gas and electricity smart meters are installed simultaneously). The cost for the communications link from the meters is estimated at £15 per household. In addition, the Government's expectation is that a standalone display—to provide customers with consumption information from smart meters—will be provided for each household. The cost of the display is estimated at £15.

Secondary information