Scottish Power will pay out £1.24 million for failing to meet smart meter installation targets. 

Alongside British Gas, Bulb, E.ON, OVO and SSE, the energy supplier fell short of installing more than a million smart meters combined for the 2022 deadline. 

Together they will pay out £10.8 million to Ofgem's Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Fund (EIVRF), which is used to help vulnerable people struggling to pay their bills. 

Scottish Power will also make a further £440,000 payment into the redress fund for missing its own smart meter goals in 2019, before the latest government targets were set.

Read more: Vulnerable Scots 'failed' as set to miss £29 million of energy support

Cathryn Scott, director of enforcement and emerging issues at Ofgem, said: “The installation of smart meters is a vital step in the modernisation of our energy system and the path to net zero by 2050.

"Smart meters give customers better information about their energy usage helping them budget and control their costs.”

Because suppliers agreed to make these voluntary payments in a process called Alternative Action, Ofgem said it would not conduct a full investigation into the reasons for the shortfall against the targets for 2022.

The energy watchdog said suppliers provided information on the mitigating factors that impacted their ability to meet their annual targets.

The Government set the industry annual minimum goals to roll out smart meters, as they are seen as being an important part of reducing energy usage and switching to a more flexible and green energy system.

The Herald: Smart meters are seen as an important way to reduce energy usageSmart meters are seen as an important way to reduce energy usage (Image: PA)

Smart meters allow households to track energy usage and access smarter tariffs that can save money by encouraging energy use outside peak times or when there is an excess of clean electricity available.

Ofgem says some customers have even been paid to use electricity during very windy days.

As of June 2023, more than 33 million smart and advanced meters have been installed in homes and small businesses across Great Britain, Ofgem said, which represents 58 per cent of all meters in the UK.

The payments made into Ofgem's EIVRF by each energy provider is broken down below:

 

  • British Gas: £3.37 million 

  • OVO: £2.39 million

  • Bulb: £1.83 million

  • E.ON: £1.72 million 

  • Scottish Power: £1.24 million 

  • SSE: £252,000