Written question asked by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative) on Wednesday, 7 December 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 12 December 2011. It was answered by Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative) on Monday, 12 December 2011 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 plans he has to encourage the uptake of smart meter time-of-use tariffs.

Answer: The Government's smart meter technical specifications will mandate energy suppliers to install meters with the functionality to support a range of time-of-use tariffs.Planned changes to the settlement system together with half-hourly data from smart meter readings will enable energy suppliers to benefit to a greater extent from lower wholesale market prices during periods of off-peak demand. We expect suppliers to incentivise customers to shift energy demand to off-peak periods through developing and promoting attractive time-of-use tariffs.

Secondary information