UK energy firms forcibly installed 94,000 prepayment meters last year
UK energy companies forcibly installed 94,000 prepayment meters using warrants in 2022, with Scottish Power and British Gas ordering the most, according to government data.
The government has been keen to distance itself from the practice of forcible installations of prepayment meters, which are generally used by energy companies for customers who have missed payments in the past.
Forcible installations have come under particular scrutiny during the energy crisis triggered by the removal of coronavirus pandemic restrictions and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which raised prices significantly and forced 2m English households into fuel poverty in 2022.
The government in February agreed with suppliers to halt forced installations, amid concerns that rules to protect vulnerable households were being ignored. The head of the energy regulator for Great Britain, Ofgem, this month told MPs a ban on the practice will remain until a code of practice has been established.
Three companies were responsible for 70% of all forced installations, the government said, describing them as “the most overzealous suppliers”. They were Scottish Power, which is owned by Spain’s Iberdrola; British Gas, part of the FTSE 100 firm Centrica; and Ovo, which took over SSE’s home energy business in 2019.
Scottish Power was “the worst offender when taking into account their customer base” with 24,300 installations, the government said.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero published the data on its website under a banner reading “Not. Good. Enough”, and the energy secretary, Grant Shapps, said the figures were “horrifying” in a statement.
The energy department also revealed on Monday that 2.1m vouchers have not yet been claimed under the government’s
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