Contact/Cyswllt:  Sian Cliff
02920 898342 / sian.cliff@wales.gov.uk

The Energy Saving Trust’s latest Green Barometer report ‘Clever Clocks: introducing smart meters’ has highlighted that Smart Meters have the potential to save £58,410,000 on energy bills if rolled out to all homes across Wales. Mick Bates AM, Welsh Lib Dem Spokesperson for the Environment, highlights his disappointment in the Labour-Plaid Assembly coalition that refused to support the Lib Dem call for a roll out of this modern metering system.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats brought smart meters to the top of the agenda in a debate in the chamber last month but the Labour-Plaid Assembly Government refused to support the motion which called for an effective strategy to be developed for a roll out of smart meters in Wales.

“Smart meters have immense potential and could save people across Wales around 5% of their energy use, which equates to savings of over £58million. They allow consumers to manage their fuel expenditure and monitor their carbon emissions, helping Government to achieve its objectives in fuel poverty and climate change” comments Mick.

“The Labour-Plaid Assembly Government has a target to eradicate fuel poverty in vulnerable groups by 2010.  This target is fast approaching and there is much work to be done if we are to reduce fuel poverty which currently affects around 20% of households in Wales.

“The energy industry and consumers can see the benefits that Smart Meters have to offer.  Despite this the Labour-Plaid Government is refusing to support this modern metering system that could make such a difference to our energy use in Wales.”

The Energy Saving Trust’s report also highlights that Government mandating of smart meters is crucial to encourage more energy efficiency in the home in order to meet our carbon reduction targets.  Commenting Mick adds:

“The number of fuel poor households in Wales has increased from 134,000 households in 2004 to 250,000 households in 2006.  Clearly the Labour-Plaid strategy is failing.  It is vital that the Assembly Government reviews its strategy on fuel poverty and embraces modern technologies such as smart meters if it is to have any hope of achieving its 2010 target.”

Notes:

What is a Smart Meter?

Smart meters are electric or gas meters that measure the exact amount of energy being used by a building. Smart meters are able to transmit this information to energy suppliers, avoiding the need for house calls to read meters.

They display the energy being used in pounds and pence so customers can see at-a-glance how much energy they are using, a task much more easily accomplished than the electricity display devices (EDD) which display energy use in kilowatt hours.

End / Diwedd