Statutory Instruments
2026 No. 73
ELECTRICITY
GAS
The Electricity and Gas (Standards of Performance) (Suppliers) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
Made
27th January 2026
Coming into force
23rd February 2026
The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority(1) (the “Authority”) makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 33A(1) and 47 of the Gas Act 1986(2) (the “Gas Act”) and sections 39(1) and 60 of the Electricity Act 1989(3) (the “Electricity Act”).
In accordance with section 33BAA(1)(a)(4) of the Gas Act and section 40B(1)(a)(5) of the Electricity Act, the Authority has arranged and considered the results of research to discover the views of a representative sample of persons likely to be affected by these Regulations.
In accordance with section 33BAA(1)(b), (2) and (3) of the Gas Act and section 40B(1)(b), (2) and (3) of the Electricity Act, the Authority has published a notice of its proposals and considered the representations made in respect of those proposals.
In accordance with section 33BAA(1)(c) and (4) of the Gas Act and section 40B(1)(c) and (4) of the Electricity Act, the Authority has consulted Citizens Advice and Consumer Scotland, gas suppliers, electricity suppliers, and persons and bodies appearing to be representative of persons likely to be affected by these Regulations.
The Secretary of State has consented to the making of these Regulations, in accordance with section 33A(2) of the Gas Act and section 39(1) of the Electricity Act.
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Electricity and Gas (Standards of Performance) (Suppliers) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 and come into force on 23rd February 2026.
(2) In these Regulations, “ the Principal Regulations ” means the Electricity and Gas (Standards of Performance) (Suppliers) Regulations 2015 ( 6 ).
Amendment of the Principal Regulations
2. The Principal Regulations are amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 7.
Amendment to regulation 2
3.—(1) In regulation 2(1) (general interpretation)—
(2) after the definition of “electricity meter” insert—
““first-time smart meter appointment” means the first appointment where a supplier is to attend for the purpose of installing a smart meter at a customer’s premises;”;
(3) after the definition of “individual standard of performance” insert—
““in-home display” means a device which is associated with or ancillary to a smart meter in a customer’s premises that is designed to display accurate real-time information about that customer’s energy consumption including tariff or expenditure information;”;
(4) after the definition of “prepayment meter” insert—
““Smart Energy Code” means the document of that title required to be maintained and in force pursuant to a smart meter communication licence(7);
“smart meter” means an electricity meter or a gas meter that meets the minimum requirements of any version of the gas smart metering equipment (GSME) technical specifications or electricity smart metering equipment (ESME) technical specifications that are contained within Schedule 9 of the Smart Energy Code, as modified from time to time in accordance with the Secretary of State’s power under section 88(1)(e) of the Energy Act 2008(8) or through the process outlined in section D of the Smart Energy Code;
“smart meter communication service” means a service provided by a person under a licence granted by the Authority under section 7AB(1) of the Gas Act(9) and section 6(1)(f) of the Electricity Act(10), or by the Secretary of State under section 7AB(2) of the Gas Act and section 6(1A) of the Electricity Act(11) (“a smart meter communication licence”);”.
Amendment to regulation 3
4.—(1) Regulation 3 (appointments) is amended as follows.
(2) After paragraph (1) insert—
“(1A) This regulation does not apply where the request in paragraph (1) is for a first-time smart meter appointment; and—
(a)a supplier reasonably concludes that it would not be possible to successfully install a smart meter at the customer’s premises;
(b)a supplier reasonably concludes that they would not receive remote meter readings from the smart meter, either using the means provided by a smart meter communication service or otherwise; or
(c)the customer has, on or after 23rd February 2026, actively refused one or more offers of a first-time smart meter appointment or prevented access to their premises for the purpose of a first-time smart meter appointment.”.
(3) In paragraph (4), at the beginning, for “In” substitute “Subject to paragraph (4A), in”.
(4) After paragraph (4) insert—
“(4A) Where the appointment is for a first-time smart meter appointment, reference to “within a reasonable time” in paragraph (3)(a) means on a date that is within the period of 30 working days, or 60 working days for micro-business customers, beginning with—
(a)the date on which the customer requests the appointment; or
(b)the date on which the supplier or the customer requests to rearrange the appointment.
(4B) Paragraph (4A)(a) applies where the request is made on or after 23rd February 2026.
(4C) Paragraph (4A)(b) applies where the request to rearrange the appointment is made on or after 23rd February 2026.”.
(5) In paragraph (9) after “paragraph (8),” insert “including where the supplier attends an appointment for the purpose of installing a smart meter,”.
Insertion of new regulation 5A
5. After regulation 5 (faulty prepayment meters) insert—
Investigation of smart meters not operating as intended
5A.—(1) This regulation applies where a customer notifies their supplier that the customer considers that their smart meter or in-home display is not operating as intended.
(2) This regulation applies to all smart meters, including those operating as a prepayment meter.
(3) Where this regulation applies, the requirements on the supplier set out in paragraph (4)(a), (b) and (c) are each an individual standard of performance.
(4) Within 5 working days of receiving a notification under paragraph (1), the supplier must—
(a)complete an initial assessment of whether the smart meter or in-home display is not operating as intended;
(b)where appropriate, take action which will assist the supplier to identify the cause of the smart meter not operating as intended or to identify whether the in-home display is not operating as intended; and
(c)offer to confirm, in writing, the nature and outcome of that initial assessment and the action taken.
(5) In this regulation—
“customer” includes a micro-business customer, except for the purposes of paragraph (c) of the definition of “not operating as intended”; and
“not operating as intended” means operating in a manner where—
the supplier is not receiving remote meter readings from the smart meter, either using the means provided by a smart meter communication service or otherwise;
the customer receives an inaccurate bill as a result of the smart meter operating as described in paragraph (a);
the in-home display is not displaying accurate real-time information about the customer’s energy consumption, including tariff or expenditure information; or
in the case of a smart meter intended to operate as a prepayment meter, the customer is unable to pay remotely in advance for the consumption of gas or electricity through that meter.”.
Amendment to regulation 8
6. In regulation 8 (suppliers’ payment obligations) at paragraph (9)(a) after “(appointments)” insert “and regulation 5A (investigation of smart meters not operating as intended) except for the purposes of paragraph (c) of the definition of “not operating as intended””.
Amendment to regulation 9
7. In regulation 9 (exemptions and limitations to supplier payment obligations) at paragraph (8) of the definition of “customer” after “(appointments)” insert “and regulation 5A (investigation of smart meters not operating as intended) except for the purposes of paragraph (c) of the definition of “not operating as intended””.
The seal of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority here affixed is authenticated by the signature of
Mark McAllister
A member of the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority
10th December 2025
I consent
Martin McCluskey
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
27th January 2026
The Gas and Electricity Markets Authority was established by section 1(1) of the Utilities Act 2000 (c. 27).
1986 c. 44; section 33A was inserted by section 11 of the Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992 (c. 43) and amended by paragraph 34 of Schedule 3 and paragraph 1 of Schedule 6 to the Gas Act 1995 (c. 45), and by section 90(1) of, and paragraph 13 of Schedule 6 and Schedule 8 to, the Utilities Act 2000, and section 47 was amended by Schedule 2 to the Offshore Safety Act 1992 (c. 15), paragraph 9 of Schedule 1 to the Competition and Service (Utilities) Act 1992, paragraph 53 of Schedule 3 to the Gas Act 1995 and sections 3(2) and 100 of the Utilities Act 2000.
1989 c. 29; section 39 was amended by sections 3(2) and 54(1) of, and paragraph 32 of Schedule 6 and paragraph 1 of Schedule 8 to, the Utilities Act 2000; and section 60 was amended by section 3(2) of the Utilities Act 2000.
Section 33BAA was inserted by section 92 of the Utilities Act 2000, amended by article 1(3) and paragraph 4 of Schedule 1 to S.I. 2014/631 and article 1(1) and paragraph 2(10) of the Schedule to S.I. 2022/34.
Section 40B was inserted by section 56 of the Utilities Act 2000, amended by article 1(3) and paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 to S.I. 2014/631 and article 1(1) and paragraph 3 of the Schedule to S.I. 2022/34.
S.I. 2015/1544 as amended by S.I. 2019/218, S.I. 2020/116, paragraph 11 of the Schedule to S.I. 2022/34, S.I. 2024/108, and S.I. 2024/1166.
The Smart Energy Code came into force on 23rd September 2013 and is available at https://smartenergycodecompany.co.uk/documents/sec/consolidated-sec/ and a consolidated version of the smart meter communication licence can be found here: https://epr.ofgem.gov.uk/c/vkmBNBeiRVGmVnLjSxiUPw/p/7d9b8497-1b92-48f1-a222-e6db49bfbff3/wvp/40e2bc91-42e8-47f7-a896-4e0e6ac5412e.
2008 c. 32; sub-section (1)(e) was amended by articles 1 and 33(2)(b) of S.I. 2012/2400, regulation 1(1) and 7(b) of S.I. 2024/706, and regulation 2(a) of S.I. 2024/957.
Section 7AB was inserted by articles 17 and 21 of S.I. 2012/2400.
Section 6 was substituted by section 30 of the Utilities Act 2000 and section 6(1)(f) was amended by articles 2, 6(1) and (2)(b) of S.I. 2012/2400.
Section 6(1A) was inserted by articles 2, 6(1) and (3) of S.I. 2012/2400.