Around 175,000 Scottish energy customers face significant problems with their home heating systems unless they upgrade their meters in the coming months. The Radio Teleswitching Service (RTS) controls energy tariffs for hundreds of thousands of Scottish homes, sending signals through the BBC’s longwave transmitter to store energy. However, the signal would be turned off for good next June, yet thousands of Scottish homes still need a more current system upgrade. Without it, customers could lose control of their heating and hot water, leaving the systems either permanently on or off.
Even though the deadline got postponed from last March, the energy regulator Ofgem noted that work to replace the old infrastructure must be sped up. Charlotte Friel, Director of Consumer Protection at Ofgem stated, “The pace of replacement is not where it needs to be.” She also added that the industry has been working on RTS replacement for some time and has replaced 200,000 meters this year, but there are still 700,000 to go. Therefore, this call to action is about bringing the industry together and emphasising the need for increasing the pace of the replacement programme, dedicating resources, and deploying boots on the ground in the correct locations.
Some customers may not be aware that their meters are regulated by RTS. However, some clues may show it. Typically, if a meter switches between on and off-peak rates, if a home is warmed by electric storage heaters, and if the household is not supplied by gas, these are the common characteristics that could indicate that the home has an RTS meter. This switch operates the meter from on to off-peak mode, and once it is shut off, it will signify that the customer has lost control of their heating and hot water, which would have different outcomes in various households; in the worst-case scenarios, it could imply that the heating and hot water are permanently on or permanently off.
Frazer Scott, from campaigning group Energy Action Scotland, stated that there were growing concerns around the switch occurring on time. He also added that the scale of these changes occurring within a limited time has caused considerable concern for all those households that may be affected when it is switched off. Nevertheless, he was glad that the industry finally came together to address the issue, even though it was in the “eleventh hour.” Moreover, he estimated that about 25% of the affected households were in Scotland, which was disproportionately affected. He called for the proper support of individuals in case their heating fails and for the provision of cheaper and certain supplies of energy. However, at the moment, there are no assurances from the industry regarding the increase of people’s bills as a result of making a meter change, which would be ridiculous. Likewise, it is unclear who will pay for additional expenses if a household requires them to ensure they have a dependable supply to their homes
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