Six of the UK’s largest energy suppliers, including Scottish Power and SSE, will have to pay out a combined sum of £10.8 million after missing their annual smart meter installation targets.

British Gas, OVO, Bulb, E.ON, Scottish Power, and SSE fell short of the government-set installation targets for 2022. Between them, there was a shortage of over a million smart meter installations.

As a result, the six energy companies have voluntarily agreed to pay £10.8m into the Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Fund (EIVRF), used to help consumers most at risk from cold homes and high energy bills.

Paying the most into the fund is British Gas at £3.37 million, followed by OVO at £2.39m and Bulb at £1.83m. E.ON will pay £1.72m, Scottish Power £1.24m, and SSE £252,000.

The UK government introduced the four-year smart Meter Targets Framework in January last year, giving energy firms prescriptive targets for installations. Ofgem, the industry regulator, monitors company progress.

Cathryn Scott, director of enforcement and emerging issues at Ofgem, commented: “The installation of smart meters is a vital step in the modernisation of our energy system and the path to net zero by 2050.

“Smart meters give customers better information about their energy usage helping them budget and control their costs.”

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Last month, the government’s Public Accounts Committee said the country’s smart meter rollout progress is too slow, and not enough has been done to get the public on board.

However, the Committee heard energy suppliers are feeling the pressure of imposed targets, which can translate into them putting pressure on the general public to install, putting consumers off.

Making the situation more difficult is technology. The Committee noted around 3 million (9%) of smart meters aren’t working properly as of March 2023.

Components for an estimated seven million smart meters will also need to be replaced, as they’ll lose functionality when 2G and 3G networks are shut down.

As of June, over 33 million smart and advanced meters have been installed in British homes and businesses, which represents 58% of all meters in the UK.