The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero introduced voluntary principles for replacing smart meter displays in February 2024, according to Smart Energy GB1. The principles are intended to make it easier for consumers to access a replacement display after the 12-month period in which suppliers must maintain that equipment has passed1.
Suppliers are required to maintain smart meter display equipment for the first 12 months after installation1. After that point, the voluntary principles apply rather than a statutory duty. Smart Energy GB states:
"These principles aim to make it easier for consumers to access a replacement after the 12-month obligation period has passed."
The in-home display is the unit that shows a household what its meter is recording in near real time. Under the smart meter rules and supplier obligations, the 12-month maintenance duty sits with the supplier, and the replacement principles now sit alongside it. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is the department responsible for home energy policy, including the smart metering programme.
Smart Energy GB's guidance also covers related ground for households in payment difficulty. It states that Ofgem strengthened the rules around involuntary prepayment meters in 2023 to improve protection for customers, especially people in vulnerable circumstances1. Under those rules, households should not have a prepayment meter installed or be switched to prepayment mode against their will, including but not limited to households with children under two and households occupied only by adults aged over 751. All suppliers have signed a Code of Practice for installing prepay meters or remotely switching customers to prepay1.
The same guidance notes that the Priority Services Register is free and voluntary, and is for people with a disability, a long-term health condition, or anyone who relies on energy for medical equipment or support at home1. It lists benefits including advanced notice of planned power cuts1. It also states that if a household rents and the energy bill is in its name, a smart meter can usually be installed1.
Why it matters for households
A working in-home display is one of the few ways a household can see its own consumption without waiting for a bill, and it does not depend on a supplier's app or a phone signal. The 12-month obligation means that for the first year after installation, keeping that display working is the supplier's responsibility. After that year, the position rests on voluntary principles rather than an enforceable duty, so what a household can obtain, and on what terms, is not set out in the same way. The principles are intended to narrow that gap, but the guidance does not state what a supplier must provide, how quickly, or at what cost, and none of that has been reported.
For a home's energy independence, the display is the piece of equipment that turns meter data into something a household can act on directly. Where a display fails and is not replaced, the household's own visibility of its usage depends on other routes, such as smart meter data access or supplier apps. The security and functioning of the wider metering system is covered in smart meter security, and the position on faulty meters in how long a smart meter can be faulty before the supplier must fix it.
What happens next
No further dated steps are given in the guidance. It does not state whether the voluntary principles will be reviewed, made mandatory, or extended, and no timetable for that has been reported.
Sources1 cited
- Energy debt advice: Get help with bills | Smart Energy GB, smartenergygb.org