300,000 households to lose heating in smart meter push
More than 300,000 households face losing hot water and heating when electricity meters are switched off on June 30.
Energy firms have admitted they are unlikely to replace thousands of Radio Teleswitching System (RTS) meters with smart meters before the old technology is phased out next month.
According to Energy UK, at the end of March, 430,000 households still used RTS which relies on the BBC's longwave radio signal to switch meters between peak and off-peak rates.
Longwave also powers BBC Radio 4, however the BBC is now shutting down the technology as it is becoming obsolete.
The trade body for energy companies has agreed with the regulator Ofgem to switch off RTS meters, which date back to the 1980s, and move customers on to smart meters instead.
The rollout of smart meters has been controversial because of data privacy concerns and 'dumb' meters that left thousands of customers with incorrect bills.
Energy UK has said that more than 1,000 RTS meters are now being replaced every day.
But this suggests hundreds of thousands of homes will not be switched over in time and could be left with a meter that does not work.
Ned Hammond, Energy UK's deputy director for customers, told BBC Radio 4's You And Yours programme that the rate of replacement is rising.
However, he said: 'Obviously we'd need to increase from there significantly still to replace all the meters by the end of June.'
When asked whether it would be impossible to replace every RTS meter by the deadline, he said: 'I wouldn't want to say impossible – but clearly very, very difficult to get to that point.'
The End Fuel Poverty Coalition has written to the watchdog and the Government warning that the replacement effort is dangerously behind schedule.
Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: 'Our member organisations across the country will continue to do all they can to support the transition and raise awareness of the switch, but urgent action is now required.
'There is a very real risk that over 300,000 households will find their RTS meter stops working properly come July 1 2025.
'With pressures on the replacement programme growing and with limited engineer availability, especially in rural areas, there's a real risk of prolonged disruption, particularly for vulnerable households.
'Government, regulators and energy firms need to face up to the looming crisis and ramp up efforts to help people switch.
'At the same time we now need to ensure contingency measures are in place for those who do not make the deadline and require energy suppliers to ensure fair metering and billing practices.'
An Ofgem spokesman said the RTS upgrade programme was an 'urgent consumer welfare issue' and it was determined to ensure customers were protected when the technology goes out of action.
They continued: 'In recent weeks we have seen evidence of suppliers significantly stepping up their activity in these remote areas, such as the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and solutions to improve smart meter connectivity in the north have been launched.
'So, we urge any customers who may have previously struggled to get their RTS meter replaced to please contact their supplier again to arrange an appointment.
'Ofgem has also demanded action plans from every supplier, which we are scrutinising on an ongoing basis to ensure that robust contingencies are in place to protect any customers who remain on RTS meters after the phased switch-off process begins.'
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When Nelson Mandela came to power more than 30 years ago, ending the racist system of apartheid, it was promised that this would be rectified through a willing-buyer, willing-seller land reform programme – but critics say this has proved too slow and too costly. In rare circumstances it would be land that was needed for the "public interest", legal experts told the BBC. According to South African law firm Werksmans Attorneys, this suggested it would mainly, or perhaps only, happen in relation to the land reform programme. Although it could also be used to access natural resources such as minerals and water, the firm added, in an opinion written by its experts in the field, Bulelwa Mabasa and Thomas Karberg. Mabasa and Karberg told the BBC that in their view, productive agricultural land could not be expropriated without compensation. 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