---

Energy Bill

moved Amendment No. 71: 71: Clause 81, page 74, line 26, leave out first ““different”” The noble Lord said: We have discussed many aspects of smart metering and I think that this is a rather clever way of trying to make sure that all smart metering is done in one way. I know that the Government will not accept this amendment, but it is just a quick attempt to say what a benefit it would be if we did not just look at the class of customer but brought all customers together. There is a serious point to this. The Government have talked about large, medium and small-sized customers, but does the size of the customer matter when you are talking about these types of meters? The meters could deal with metering for different types of customer. A large customer will not have just one access point into its premises. I am particularly interested in this because of an issue that was brought to my attention about smart meters. I have spoken to a large supermarket, which brought in smart meters as an environmental benefit, about how it could manage its electricity supply. Using the better meters meant that it could contest the electricity charges because the old meters were not as accurate and there was a considerable differential. I was disappointed because this was seen as very valuable and it meant that those dealing with the metering issue immediately tried to save the supermarket as much money as possible and the environmental benefits were not looked at. The concept is that it is valuable for very large customers. I can see why the Government are splitting the customer base into different groups. They could introduce the meters to one group and then move down the line. There is, I would say, a disproportionately high benefit to the much smaller customers, especially the SMEs, but there will be no real difference to domestic properties. It is a real issue for those companies. There can be a major variation in the billing technique on the meters currently being moved. If a meter reading is not taken over a period of time, a large bill will suddenly turn up and can cause a major cash-flow problem. That has happened to a number of companies and individuals I have talked to. That is the basis of the amendment. I know that that Minister will say that the Government will not take this route. However, if this massive investment takes place for domestic customers, I ask the Government to consider why all customers should not be dealt with in the same way. I beg to move.