Energy suppliers should have been in touch with Economy 7 customers to upgrade them to a smart meter before 30 June 2025, according to consumer guidance published by the disability charity Scope. The date is given as a deadline that has now passed, and the guidance states that suppliers should have made contact before it1.
The same date appears in separate guidance on smart meter problems, which states that suppliers are required by law to offer domestic and small business customers a smart meter by 30 June 20252. The two sources describe the obligation in different terms: Scope frames it as contact with Economy 7 customers specifically, while the second source frames it as an offer to domestic and small business customers generally1.
"Your electrical energy supplier should have been in touch to upgrade you to a smart meter before 30 June 2025."
"Energy suppliers are required by law to offer domestic and small business customers a smart meter by 30 June 2025."
Economy 7 is a time of use tariff, charging different rates at peak and off-peak times, which the guidance notes makes tariffs harder to compare directly1. Households on Economy 7 have historically relied on Radio Teleswitch meters, which switch between peak and off-peak rates using a broadcast signal. Scope directs readers whose supplier has not been in touch to Ofgem's guidance on replacing Radio Teleswitch electricity meters1. The sources do not state how many Economy 7 households were contacted, how many were upgraded, or what happens to those still on older meters.
The guidance also sets out what applies to smart meters more generally. Suppliers must maintain smart meters for 12 months after installing them, and some suppliers have agreed to provide extra support beyond that1. Where a smart meter stops working or stops sending information, the householder is directed to contact their supplier1. For prepayment smart meters, credit is not usually carried over when switching supplier, and the old supplier refunds any remaining credit after the switch1.
Why it matters for households
A smart meter records electricity use in half-hourly or similar intervals and sends readings without a manual read. For an Economy 7 household, that matters because the cheap overnight window is the basis of the tariff: without a meter that can register and report consumption in the right periods, the split between peak and off-peak use is harder to evidence and harder to act on. The upgrade also removes dependence on the Radio Teleswitch signal, which is the mechanism that has historically told older meters when to switch rates1.
For a home's energy independence, the practical effect is better information about when electricity is being used, which is the starting point for shifting heavy loads such as heating, hot water or vehicle charging into cheaper periods. The guidance notes that time of use tariffs charge different rates at peak and off-peak times, and that this makes them harder to compare than a single-rate tariff1. It also notes that a lower standing charge tariff, part of a one-year Ofgem trial from June 2026 involving British Gas, EDF, E.ON and Octopus, usually comes with a higher unit rate, so a household that uses a lot of energy could pay more overall1. The sources do not report any change to Economy 7 off-peak windows or to the availability of the tariff itself.
What happens next
The 30 June 2025 date has passed. Scope's guidance says that where a supplier has not been in touch about an Economy 7 upgrade, the reader should look at Ofgem's guidance on replacing Radio Teleswitch electricity meters1. No further deadline for Economy 7 upgrades is given in the sources.
Sources2 cited
- Switching energy tariff or supplier | Disability charity Scope UK, scope.org.uk
- Smart meter problems | Vaillant, vaillant.co.uk