Nearly 50,000 RTS meters still in use in Scotland

Nearly 50,000 Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) meters are yet to be replaced in Scotland despite plans to switch the service off next year.

RTS meters receive radio signals to switch between different electricity rates or turn certain appliances on or off at specific times. The radio signal created by this technology, however, is outdated, so these meters are now being phased out.

According to a Freedom of Information request submitted to Ofgem by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, over 24,000 of these meters are located in northern Scotland, with 30 per cent of those belonging to vulnerable customers who are on the Priority Services Register.

Orkney MSP Liam McArthur said: “When the government first announced this phased switch-off, my party warned that we could not be complacent and that energy companies still needed to urgently accelerate the progress on meter replacements. This clearly hasn’t happened.”

In June, the UK Government was forced to row back plans to switch off every RTS meter because energy companies had failed to replace meters at the pace required. If meters are switched off before they are replaced, households could be left with no heating or hot water.

Because of this delay, the government brought in a phased switch-off instead, which has been paused for the duration of the winter months in the north of Scotland. This programme is set to resume in March.

Based on the current rate of meter replacement, the Liberal Democrats estimate that 25,275 meters in Scotland will still need to be replaced by March 2026.    

MSP for Shetland Beatrice Wishart said: “After all the mess that preceded the first planned switch-off, it beggars belief that energy companies are still stuck in the slow lane. Energy companies urgently need to get a handle on this and ramp up the pace at which they are replacing meters. The impact of not doing so could be absolutely devastating.”