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Written question asked by Philip Davies (Conservative) on Monday, 21 November 2016, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 23 November 2016. It was answered by Jesse Norman (Conservative) on Monday, 28 November 2016 on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Energy: Meters

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2016 to Question 52983, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the increase in the number of people using pre-payment meters.

Answer

Ofgem monitor the number of electricity and gas pre-payment meters (PPMs) installed. While most PPMs have historically been installed to repay debt, this has declined since 2013 and the most recent Ofgem report suggested there was evidence of new demand being driven by smart meters operating in pay-as-you-go mode, which is classified as PPM for these statistics.

Fuel

Total number of PPMs installed in 2015

Total number of PPMS installed in 2015 to recover debt

Total number of PPMs installed in 2015, requested by customers without a debt

Electricity

327,107

149,098

178,009

Gas

348,515

150,023

198,492

This data is available online at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2016/10/monitoring_social_obligations_-_2015_annual_data_report.pdf.

The full Ofgem report is available online at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/domestic-suppliers-social-obligations-2015-annual-report.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
53976
Session
2016-17
Related items
Energy: Meters
Friday, 18 November 2016
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects
Energy Meters Pre-payment
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk