WHAT THE BRITS KNOW ABOUT SMART METERS

Quantitative Research into Public Awareness, Attitudes, and Experience of Smart Meters

21 August 2012 (Ipsos MORI for DECC)

“…Installation of smart meters by energy suppliers has been adopted by the Government as a way of helping consumers have more control over their energy use and spending, while also helping meet environmental and security of supply objectives. The programme aims to ensure installation of smart meters in all homes in Britain by 2019…

“Half of energy bill-payers living in Great Britain had heard of smart meters (49%), with one in twenty claiming that they have one installed (5%)…A third (32%) expressed support for the installation of smart meters in every home in the country, while one in five (20%) were opposed. Almost half (48%) of all respondents are undecided about smart meters.”

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“Four in ten (42%) of those without a smart meter in their home were interested in having one installed. Support for smart meters, and interest in installation, were both highly correlated to age and size of household; with younger and larger households expressing greater support and interest.

“The perceived benefits of having a smart meter installed included being able to better manage household finances (33%), to help avoid waste (26%) and produce a greater accuracy of billing (19%). Perceived disadvantages included cost (either to themselves, the taxpayer, the government or the energy companies) (19%) and data security (10%)…Positively, the more respondents felt they knew about smart meters the more likely they were to support their roll-out and want one...”

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