Speeches by Chope.

“You are describing a national benefit, but the cost of that is being borne by individual consumers, many of whom are complaining about the extent of the policy costs on their bills every month. Why is the national benefit, which you have been describing, not being borne by the national taxpayer?”

“Governments have continually pushed back the date for delivery on all this. Do you think that has added to the costs?”

“Some individual consumers do not want smart meters because they are worried about various threats, of one sort or another, and they would like to be able to take responsibility for making their own judgments. As you have just said, that sort of cyber-threat cannot be eliminated 100%. In Denmark, do people have the free…”

“I apologise for not being here at the beginning, but I have been at another Committee. I wanted to ask you about the costs and benefits. What are the costs in the current year of this smart meter roll-out?”

“Are there any other safety risks associated with smart meters?”

“What about rogue installers? It is difficult to control the engineers who put in these meters. They are obviously trained and subject to some scrutiny, but they could be a weak link in the whole system, could they not?”

“So there is no risk from hackers. We are pretty safe from hackers, are we?”

“What about Denmark?”

“These questions are based on research at Oregon State University, which says that smart meters are ideal targets for hackers because they provide a means for malicious actors to gain access to and destabilise the power transmission grid. Penny Brown, do you think that you are doing enough to guard against cyber-attacks…”

“Do you think suppliers are adequately incentivised to minimise the costs of their smart meter roll-out while maintaining quality customer service?”

“Governments have continually pushed back the date for delivery on all this. Do you think that has added to the costs?”

“But in the meantime, irrespective of their income, people are paying extra—a policy levy—on their household bills, aren’t they, and businesses likewise?”

“Why is it not possible to estimate that now? You are talking about a 2019 estimate; why can’t that be updated?”

“Can we turn to the benefits? The original idea was that consumers and businesses would, by 2034, benefit to the extent of £19.5 billion as a result of the smart meter roll-out. Is that still the right figure?”

“You are talking like a snake oil salesman, if I can say so. Why can’t you just answer the questions?”

“There may be individual households that do not wish to have a smart meter, which is fine, but as they are not going to get any benefit, why should they pay the cost?”

“Sorry, I misheard. If they are costing every household on average £15 a year on a smart meter roll-out, that is unnecessarily high, isn’t it? Why isn’t the cost of the smart meter roll-out being borne by the industry, rather than being transferred to the consumer?”

“So who is paying for these unrealistic targets, which you are complaining about and want rectified? If they are unrealistic targets, and they are costing every household on average £50—”

“About £50 of everybody’s energy bill is going on smart meter roll-out? That seems a heck of a lot of money.”

“But who is paying for the cost of the smart meter roll-out?”