Crown Gas & Power’s practices in the industry have come under fire recently. They charged a UK-based Quaker meeting house an exorbitant £486 removal fee to take out a gas meter. In fact, the whole removal process was less than an hour of a technician’s time. This fast turnaround time has led to scrutiny over the fairness and transparency of the charges. JJ, one of the meeting house’s representatives, threatened to end their gas service. They’d recently transitioned from a traditional gas boiler to an air source heat pump. They were advised to continue paying a daily 99p standing charge. This fee would remain in effect until the meter was eventually removed.
Octopus Energy is leading the way by offering free home gas meter removals. This lays bare the essential differences in policies between energy suppliers. According to the Citizens Advice website, moving a gas meter can be costly. Cost ranges considerably, from £400 to more than £1,000. That variation is mostly driven by how much work needs to be completed. This creates vast ambiguities and leads to wildly different cost models.
JJ first contacted Crown Gas & Power to inform them to terminate the gas service. In reaction, the provider suggested that the only action they could advise was for them to visit the Citizens Advice website to receive advice. Dissatisfied with the resolution, JJ escalated the issue by contacting the Consumer Champions at The Guardian, hoping for broader attention and resolution.
Richard Lowes of the Regulatory Assistance Project, which works globally on clean energy policy and practice, discussed this.
“Non-residential supplies are regulated differently to residential supplies and, in either case, it is up to the supplier how much they charge,” – Richard Lowes
Lowes documents the safety issues gas meter removal entails. They call attention to the critical lack of regulatory clarity.
Ofgem has a key role to play as the energy regulator in this regard. There are increasing demands on the organization to come clean about the lack of clarity on gas meter removal costs. Commercially available solutions are evolving with the industry moving toward more sustainable solutions such as heat pumps. As this occurs, having clarity and consistency in fees will be crucial.
This quote points to the hidden operational costs required to keep the meters, even when turned off.
“whether gas is being consumed or not, meters require monitoring and management” – Crown Gas & Power
This statement highlights the operational costs involved in maintaining meters, even when they are inactive.