Mr. John Melvin:

Of the first 250,000 smart metering installations, it is intended that the oldest meters will be replaced first but people can put their hands up and request smart meter installation. The usefulness of that when it comes to selling any microgenerated power in the home will depend upon things like smart services being turned on and whatever other arrangements are available, such as an entity to buy the power. If individuals are actively generating power and want to avail of this opportunity, they can request a smart meter in the first phase of roll-out and take it from there but they will have to wait for the smart services to be turned on before the meter becomes useful. In short, microgenerators can ask for a smart meter now.