By 
Proactive Investors – British Gas boss Chris O’Shea has suggested every household in the UK should be forced onto smart meters.
“We think that in order to have the proper smart grid that’s required to keep costs low in the future, everybody should have a smart meter,” he told MPs on Wednesday.
“One of the things we should consider [is] whether this is a voluntary programme, or whether it should be mandatory.”
Centrica PLC (LON:CNA)-owned British Gas had faced scandal last year, after debt collectors were found to have been force-fitting pre-payment meters in homes of vulnerable people on its behalf.
Discussing the rollout of smart meters in a parliamentary hearing, he said British Gas would be willing to fit the technology for other suppliers.
These, he said, could save money, as smart meters track energy usage in real time, allowing customers to access cheaper rates at different times.
“We have 1,700 smart meter installers and we would be happy to install smart meters for Octopus, for E.ON, for anybody,” O’Shea said.
“We would split the UK up street by street, rather than customer by customer.
“If you mandated it, then we could have that change in programme. It could be done within the next five years or so.”
He added customers had been resistant to accepting smart meters, with research finding recently that 4 million of the 35 million installed in the UK were faulty.
Responding to O’Shea’s comments that customers had refused smart meters, Octopus Energy director Rachel Fletcher said many had been open to the technology when including deals.
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“What we see [at Octopus] is people queueing up asking for a smart meter where we are offering tariffs or tools which allow them to save,” she said.
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