Pubs will be forced to install smart meters
Pubs will be forced to install smart meters
Nick GutteridgeSat, September 12, 2026 at 6:00 PM UTC
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Pubs face being forced to install smart meters from next year under a new net zero drive.
Businesses that refuse to adopt the technology will be blocked from signing fixed-price energy contracts under plans unveiled by ministers.
The changes will initially affect small and medium-sized premises such as pubs, restaurants and shops.
They are part of a push by the Labour Government to have all households and small businesses adopt a smart meter by 2030.
The Telegraph has been campaigning to save Britain’s pubs, which are facing cuts to Covid-era relief, as well as rises in National Insurance payments and the minimum wage.
And political opponents warn that the Government’s latest changes will pile extra costs and bureaucracy on to struggling watering holes.
The Net Zero Department announced this week that it would go ahead with plans to introduce “smart-contingent contracts” for non-domestic users.
Under the reforms, companies will have to agree to install a smart meter when they sign up to a fixed-term contract for electricity or gas. Energy suppliers will begin introducing the requirement from January, and it will become compulsory from Sept 1 next year.
In a paper announcing the move, officials wrote: “After this date, if energy suppliers enter into new fixed term energy contracts with non-domestic customers, they must ensure the contract includes a term which provides that the customer has, or agrees to have, smart or advanced meters installed in their designated premises.”
The paper said that installing smart meters would help businesses to manage their energy costs, including finding “ways to reduce overall consumption”.
Andrew Bowie, the shadow energy secretary, said: “Businesses, like families, are facing soaring energy bills thanks to Labour’s net zero obsession.
“Those businesses should be free to decide whether or not they want smart meters. The Government should not be imposing them on firms with the threat of reduced choice if they don’t cooperate.
“Labour have already hammered businesses with their tax hikes and red tape. Their focus should be on reducing costs, but instead they just want to raise taxes further to fund more benefits. Only the Conservatives will cut bills and back businesses with our Cheap Power Plan.”
Richard Tice accused the Government of ‘constant meddling’ in business - Phil Lewis/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, claimed the reforms would add “more unnecessary costs and burdensome regulations for small businesses”.
He said: “It’s just constant meddling. This socialist Labour Government really has no idea about how to grow the economy and get out of the way of business.”
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The Government insisted that no business would be “forced” to install a smart meter.
Companies could choose to switch to a non-fixed tariff to avoid having to do so, but they are typically more expensive.
Figures published last year by Utility Bidder, a comparison website, showed that almost seven in 10 (68 per cent) of businesses are on fixed-rate contracts.
Officials said the reforms would apply to small and medium-sized commercial sites “in the first instance” but could later be extended to bigger ones.
They added that some suppliers were already including such clauses in their contracts, and claimed making them compulsory would help regulate the industry, ensuring equal standards across the board.
Providers’ enforcement concerns
But some energy providers raised concerns during the consultations on the move about how ministers would expect them to enforce the policy.
Successive governments have pushed the adoption of smart meters as Britain comes to rely more heavily on intermittent renewable energy.
They can be used to regulate household and business usage to fit in with periods when the sun does not shine and the wind does not blow.
Ministers want all homes and small firms to have smart meters by the end of the decade, but many customers are resisting calls to install them.
Figures published this week show more than three million families are stuck with “dumb” smart meters that could be costing them more.
The devices are unable to send automatic readings to energy suppliers, meaning that customers may be receiving incorrect bills.
Concerns have also been raised about how smart meters could be used to try to force families and businesses to change their habits.
Earlier this year, The Telegraph exposed government research into how they could be used to discourage families from turning up their heating.
Ministers have insisted that smart meters allow consumers to run appliances at non-peak times and so save money on their energy bills.
A spokesman for the Net Zero Department said: “Smart meters are already helping millions of consumers manage their energy and save money on bills. No business will be forced to get a smart meter.
“This is about protecting businesses from unfair treatment in the market by creating a standard that all energy suppliers must follow.”
Source: “AOL Money”
