The Government’s response to a recent consultation period proposes a new obligation on energy suppliers to roll out smart meters to all homes in the United Kingdom over the period 2014 to 2019. The roll-out programme will also involve the replacement of around 53 million gas and electricity meters (www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/tackling/smart_meters/smart_meters.aspx). They were first introduced in 1909. In 1993, the Government introduced an annual Fuel Price Escalator (FPE), initially at 3% above the rate of inflation, then at 6% after the election of the Labour Government in 1997.