Dear Minister/Head of Ofgem/Scottish Gov Minister
We write a joint letter to express our deep concern on behalf of constituents across the Highlands and Islands, where the proposed Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) switch off on June 30th is causing high anxiety.
In the Western Isles around 75 per cent of households are still waiting for a smart meter to be installed and there is zero prospect of that being fulfilled before the deadline.
For those with dual control meters, many of them elderly, the threat is very real and could mean, at worst, a loss of heating and hot water, and at best, a hike in price with the resulting tariff change.
In the islands we already have the highest rates of fuel poverty in the UK and now look set to add insult to injury when the current system ends in June.
We urge the UK government and the industry regulator to step in on behalf of vulnerable consumers, by ensuring that households still waiting on a working smart meter at the end of June are moved on to the lowest tariff for every element of their electricity usage, including heating and hot water previously delivered through dual tariff meters.
On that basis, we ask OFGEM to impose its proposed tightening of RTS licence conditions and go further by enforcing a commitment on no unit price rises for these households.
We look forward to a swift response and some immediate action to prevent this looming deadline causing further anxiety and leading to fuel poverty for our constituents.
Torcuil Crichton, MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar and Rhoda Grant, MSP for the Highlands and Islands