Talk of stopping the forced installation of prepayment meters (PPMs) by energy retailers is “pie in the sky” unless the sector has a “grown up conversation” about cost, an industry boss has said.
As the energy crisis continues to put pressure on millions of households, the sector is facing growing pressure to halt forced PPM installations amid fears households who cannot afford to top up will be forced to self-disconnect.
It follows research by consumer charity Citizens Advice which found 3.2 million people across Great Britain ran out of credit on their PPM last year because they could not afford to top up, the equivalent of someone being cut off every 10 seconds.
However Bill Bullen, chief executive of PPM specialist supplier Utilita, said he believed there was not enough consideration being given to the costs involved of consumers being unable to pay their bills.
Speaking to Utility Week, he said: “The vast majority, certainly of our customer base, wants a prepayment meter. So it’s definitely wrong to categorise all prepay situations as the same. Anybody who’s suggesting stopping installing prepay forcefully, i.e. basically because the customer is not paying, they very quickly have to follow that up with a conversation about money, a grown up conversation about money.
“If prepayment is not the answer that you want to see, what is the answer you want to see? I don’t see other consumers voting to increase taxes to cover this cost.”
He added: “Right now, if you’re suggesting stopping forcefully installing prepay meters, you need to have a sensible plan around cost. Frankly, as long as that’s covered, you won’t find me or any other utility company arguing with it…unless we have that grown up conversation about cost it’s frankly pie in the sky to talk about stopping installing prepay meters.”
Bullen’s comments come as a number of organisations begin a series of protests this week and are demanding the government ban the forced switching of customers to PPMs.
Ruth London, co-founder of the Fuel Poverty Action group, said: “We need an outright ban, and urgent removal of the hundreds of thousands of meters that have been installed where they are not safe or practical in defiance of suppliers’ licence conditions.
“The energy suppliers were quick to find men to drill out locks and break into homes to install these meters, now they must act quickly to take them out. People are being left in the cold and dark even when they are dependent on heat or on power for disability aids, medical equipment, for light and for charging phones. Every delay will lead to deaths.”