'Modern energy meters a smart move in the right direction' - Mick Bates AM

2.50.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 25th Sep 2007

Mick Bates, chair of the National Assembly Sustainable Energy Group and Welsh Lib Dem spokesperson for the environment, calls for more support for a policy framework to deliver smart meters to all households and businesses across Wales.

Following the publication of the Energy Retail Association briefing on Smart Meters, Mick is keen to highlight the potential benefits that could be achieved by an effective roll-out of smart meters:

"Economic use of electricity is good both for individual households and businesses and Smart Meters are a crucial part of the way forward for energy supply. These meters help reduce energy costs as well as having positive benefits for the environment, by reducing consumption and lowering carbon emissions.

"Smart Meters can show how much it costs to run individual appliances which will raise awareness of the cost of energy consumption. We need to encourage people to be more energy efficient and behavioural change will have a huge impact on this.

"Smart meters enable more accurate billing which would be a huge benefit for the fuel poor in Wales. Research has shown that on average household bills could be reduced by around £60-£80 per year. In 2002 Italy embarked on a project to install 30 million smart meters which have helped cut domestic energy use by 3 to 15%.

"Small and medium enterprises can benefit from the use of Smart Meters. The Carbon Trust has undertaken research which has shown that these businesses could save around £1,000 per year on energy bills.

"A further incentive is that Smart Meters can support micro-generation. They allow customers to export any surplus micro-generated power back to the electricity grid. This would encourage the use of micro-generation technologies, which would in turn help reduce carbon emissions from the domestic sector.

"Clearly Smart Meters are a move in the right direction and should be supported as an important part of the green agenda for Wales."

End / Diwedd