More than half a million households could be forced to install smart meters or risk higher bills. 600,000 households will be forced to install a smart meter or face higher bills within six months, as the BBC shuts down a 40-year-old radio service.
The Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) will switch off on June 30, 2025. The system enables customers to benefit from cheaper electricity rates during off-peak hours through tariffs like Economy 7 and Economy 10 – with those who have the meters now facing being forced onto smart meters.
The energy regulator Ofgem says it expects suppliers to transfer 100,000 customers – who could be with British Gas, EDF, EON, Octopus or more – using RTS every month until June, which they say is feasible under current plans. There are approximately 600,000 RTS meters remaining in Britain, after 300,000 were switched over during the course of 2024.
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Energy firms use RTS to switch a meter between peak and off-peak rates so customers can have energy deals that charge them less at certain times. One reader told This Is Money that they had been ‘bombarded’ with emails about installing a new smart meter before June.
She was told the meter ‘may malfunction and I won’t be able to access the cheapest night rates after that deadline’ without a smart meter. An Ofgem spokesman said: “We expect suppliers to consider a range of innovative solutions to ensure their RTS customers get on to a metering and tariff arrangement appropriate for them.
“Smart meters are the best replacement for RTS meters – giving consumers more control of their energy usage and opening access to new money-saving tariffs – however, customers should speak to their supplier to understand the options that are available.”
The BBC switch-off is part of a wider plan to end all long-wave broadcasts because they are energy-intensive and lack the quality of FM.