Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Nicholas Winterton (Conservative). It was answered by David Kidney (Labour) on Thursday, 25 February 2010 on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Prepayment Meters

Question: What recent progress he has made on phasing out domestic energy prepayment meters.

Answer: Prepayment meters play an important role in helping some customers to control their energy expenditure and should remain an option for consumers. Smart meters will in due course replace current prepayment meters and we are committed to rolling out smart meters to all households. Meanwhile, the replacement of the older-style token prepayment meters was due to be nearly completed by the end of 2009. I await an update on the present position from Ofgem.

Secondary information