Hello and welcome to a special edition of Spectator Radio.

I'm Katie Balls.

In the last few years, climate change has risen to the top of the agenda for consumers, voters, politicians and journalists alike.

But as well as cutting down emissions and using less plastic, could we also be rethinking the way

we use energy at home? Here's where smart metres come in. A smart meter is a fully digital

electrical gas meter which shows the consumer exactly how much energy they're using.

Proponents say that they can save the environment and save you money, but full rollout was

meant to have happened next year, 2020, a target that this year has been delayed for four years.

So what exactly is so smart about smart meters and what's holding them up. I'm joined by three people in the know.

Dara VS, head of future energy services at the Citizens Advice Bureau,

Adam John, a reporter at Utility Week,

and Robert Cheeswright, Director of Corporate Affairs at Smart Energy GB,

the government-backed campaign for national smart meter upgrades,

which is sponsoring this podcast. So Robert, to start with, can you explain what smart

meters are for those who are not yet in the know? So smart meters are the replacement for your

current gas and electricity meter, whether that's under your stairs or just outside your house.

And what they are is just like

those meters before, but they have the ability to collect that data and then send it to the energy

supplier, which means you get an accurate energy bill. You also get an in-home display in your home,

which is, it looks a little bit like a sat-nab actually, but it gives you real-time energy use

information that enables you to see where you can

maybe make some little changes in your home to save you money. But broader than that, the 53 million

...