Member Article

Tech savvy North West leads the way in new pay-as-you-go gas and electricity

People in the North West are ahead of the curve in wanting to use the latest technology to manage gas and electricity costs at home, a new survey has revealed. In the North West 50 per cent said they wanted to use a smart meter in pay-as-you-go-mode.

The research, Attitudes around buying gas and electricity with smart pay-as-you-go, was carried out by Populus for Smart Energy GB, the consumer smart meter campaign. Households in the North West ranked above the national average in embracing new ways to pay for and monitor their gas and electricity, 76 per cent saw the benefit in having a digital handheld device that would let them see what credit they had left and many welcomed being able to pay online (71 per cent) or through a smartphone app (58 per cent).

All households will be offered a smart meter by their gas and electricity supplier by 2020 as part of the national roll-out programme. Smart meters will be able to operate in pay-as-you-go or debit mode, meaning that those wanting to pay-as-you-go don’t need to have a different meter installed.

Smart pay-as-you-go means being able to top up your energy as you use it, and also being able to see how much energy and credit is left at any time. Customers will be able to pay over the phone, online, or even via a smart phone app. At the moment in the North West only 17 per cent use the prepayment system for gas and 17 per cent for electricity. The higher interest in smart pay-as-you-go shows the demand for a flexible, effective way of paying for and managing energy use.

Sacha Deshmukh, Chief Executive of Smart Energy GB, said: “Our research tells us that households in the North West are among the most tech savvy when it comes to managing their gas and electricity. In a world where we are increasingly using pay-as-you-go across all areas of our lives, from phones, to travel and even buying music by the song, consumers are excited by the same flexibility and convenience coming for gas and electricity.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Smart Energy GB .