Transcript Average Domestic Bills – August 2014

Energy Action Fuel Poverty Conference
Smart Meters - Tariff Benefits for Fuel Poor
Choosing the Right Supplier
Cathy Mannion
6th October 2014
Current Regulatory Framework
• CER duty to protect energy customers
• Supplier Handbook
Customer Charter, Marketing & Sign Up, Customer Billing & Disconnection, Complaint
Handling, Vulnerable Customers, PAYG & Budget Controllers, T&Cs
Annual Customer Survey
Market Monitoring
Price Comparison
Accreditation
Average Domestic Bills – August 2014
Supplier
A
B
C
D
E
F
Annual Average Urban 24hr Electricity Bill, August 2014, 5,300kWh annual consumption
Standard Electricity
Direct debit & online billing discount
€1,246
€1,101
€1,193
€1,093
€1,211
€1,058
€1,228
€1,075
€1,348
Na
€1,348
Na
Supplier
A
B
C
D
Annual Average Domestic Gas Bill, August 2014, 13,800kWh annual consumption
Standard Gas
Direct debit & online billing discount
€979
€954
€993
€926
€979
€929
€979
€855
E
€985
€854
• Highest savings can be made by customers switching from standard plans
to discounted plans (i.e. by paying by direct debit and availing of online
billing).
3
What is a ‘smart meter’
Existing Meter
Smart Meter


Manually read up to 4
times a year



Read automatically every
day
Estimation used where

No more estimated bills
readings don’t occur

Allows real time usage
Customers have little
information to be
sense of actual usage
presented in the home

Switching to prepayment
requires new meter
Allows new pricing based
on Time of Use

4
Prepayment open to all
Decision on National Rollout: July 2012
 Roll out smart meters – electricity & gas
 Mandating ToU Tariffs - all electricity customers
 Mandating energy usage statements
 Mandating IHD devices – all electricity customers
 Enabling broader and easier access to prepayment services
5
Solution Overview
National Smart Metering Programme
2007
Today
 National Trials into Technology & Customer Behaviour 6000
 Av. electricity usage savings of 2.5% overall & 8.8% peak reduction
The Journey
We are rolling out smart meters
to all customers
..and mandating time-of-use
tariffs as the norm, because
ToU has been demonstrated in
trials and focus groups to be
beneficial to consumers
Challenges of migrating to TOU
But it is important to
understand the potential
distributional impacts
..and focus on how to make it
relevant to consumers, and to
retailers
Customer Risk
 In theory, smart meters can reduce supply costs, energy use and bills
 In practice, this can only occur if consumers make good choices
 Two surveys of UK consumers who switched among simple
two-part tariffs for price reasons:
Less than 20% chose lowest cost provider
Less than half the available gains were made
About 25% switched to a higher cost supplier
 Time Of Use Tariffs must be introduced with care to allow consumers
save money
 New Statutory Instrument to allow CER mandate tariff structures
 CER will develop tariffs working with industry and customer
representatives
Thank You
Cathy Mannion
[email protected]