ScottishPower first in UK with 100% smart meters

ScottishPower has become the first energy company in the UK to complete installation of smarter meters across its entire service area.

The £50 million project replaced 340,000 “Token” pre-payment meters with new, smarter “Key” meters throughout the company’s network area, including the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Liverpool. In total, ScottishPower made more than 1 million home visits over two years to install the meters and discuss their operation.

As well as fitting over 300,000 new meters, the company has also carried out comprehensive information campaigns to ensure that all customers were aware of the upgrades and how to operate the new meters.

ScottishPower says the upgraded technology will benefit customers in a number of ways. With the smarter meters in place, data can be updated remotely, meaning that physical access to the meter is no longer required beyond standard safety checks. A meter reading is also automatically recorded every time the key is re-inserted after adding credit, which greatly reduces the possibility of inaccurate bills.

A further feature of Key Meters is that they are programmed to ensure continued electricity supplies if credit runs out during the hours when it is difficult to purchase top-ups (between 6 pm and 9 am Monday through Saturday, and from 6 pm Saturday to 9 am Monday).

“During the peak of the replacement programme, we were upgrading 3,000 meters every week,” said Neil Clitheroe, customer services director at ScottishPower. “The new meters are more user friendly than their predecessors, and customers will see immediate benefits. Greater accuracy in recording readings and the ability to update information remotely will significantly reduce the possibility of billing inaccuracies. It will also reduce the possibility of debt being accumulated.”

ScottishPower used a phased approach to introduce the new meters, carrying out the upgrades one area at a time. The first region to be fully upgraded was Dumfries & Galloway in January 2009, with the final areas of Glasgow and Caernarfon fully completed at the end of August.