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This week, Watchdog investigates energy suppliers who are struggling to keep up with demands to upgrade their customers’ Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) meters. RTS meters use a radio signal to switch between peak and off-peak rates but from 30th June 2025 the technology will be phased out as it eventually becomes obsolete. With that date looming, some of those energy customers who still have an RTS meter are worried they won’t get their meters sorted in time.

Jennie spoke with her energy supplier, EDF, back in March 2025 about getting her RTS meter upgraded to a smart meter and she was given an appointment six weeks later in May. But on the day of the appointment, EDF cancelled citing a “resource restriction”.

Jennie was given £40 compensation for the cancelled appointment but further attempts to book another appointment have been in vain, with EDF having no available appointment slots for her.

Jemima is a customer of Scottish Power and she’s been trying to get her RTS meter upgraded for the last five years but multiple attempts by Scottish Power have resulted in her being no closer to getting it sorted.

Stewart is also with Scottish Power and since May he’s also been having problems with getting his supplier to sort his RTS meter out. The first appointment saw an engineer come out but fail to upgrade his meter and since then he’s had two appointments cancelled, with no new appointments offered to him

Jane is with OVO, she’s been trying to get the supplier to come and upgrade the RTS meter on her property. OVO engineers have already been out there once but failed to upgrade the meter and then cancelled another appointment, with no sign of coming back out again.

When we wrote to EDF for comment, it said it remains committed to helping customers exchange their RTS meters as soon as possible and has already upgraded tens of thousands of RTS meters to ensure customers are not impacted.

EDF is sorry Jennie’s original appointment was cancelled but is pleased to confirm a booking for 13th June. Compensation has been applied for the cancellation, and Jennie will still receive the £150 incentive payment.

It has allocated dedicated resource to ensure capacity for all customers who still need to book an appointment. If an appointment isn’t immediately available, customers will be placed on a priority list to be booked in ahead of 30th June. To effectively manage this, all customers still requiring an RTS meter exchange must contact EDF as soon as possible. EDF says it is easy to do, and appointments are free of charge.

It adds that from 30th June there will be a carefully managed phase-out of the RTS signal. EDF will work closely with the industry to support any customers that have not had their meter replaced by then.

Scottish Power told us RTS related meters and the associated heating configurations are the most complex meter setups in the country, with many nearly 40 years old. It adds that due to this age and complexity, its engineers face working in highly challenging circumstances each day and in the case of Stewart’s installation the wrong decision was taken to abort the job. Scottish Power say this was down to human error.

In Stewart and Jemima’s cases Scottish Power is sorry for the inconvenience experienced. It says it has been in touch with both customers and resolved these issues and replaced their meters.

Scottish Power also says that in terms of the industry-wide RTS issue, it has made ongoing and significant efforts to encourage all of its RTS customers to switch meters ahead of the deadline with over 70% either completed or with booked appointments. It claims that following concerted industry-led awareness campaigns it has quadrupled the number of weekly installs and is progressing well.

Scottish Power also adds that starting 30th June, the RTS signal will begin to be phased out in a carefully managed way. It claims that to ensure customers’ heating and hot water continues running smoothly, it encourages them to book a meter upgrade appointment with Scottish Power as soon as possible. Scottish Power says customers shouldn’t worry if their appointment is after 30th June – the phased approach means it’ll try to prioritise the upgrade before the shutdown in that area.

OVO told us Jane’s appointment was cancelled due to an incorrect message on her account having her down as a non RTS customer. It says this has been resolved and another appointment has now been booked in.

OVO says its team has been in touch to apologise for the inconvenience and are on hand to provide further support.

OVO also says is one of the highest performing suppliers in terms of reduction and volume of meters being exchanged each month. The company says it won’t share its RTS numbers at this time but it is continuing to work hard to get customers' meters switched.

OVO continued to say If customers are still unsure of what to do it urges them to contact OVO as soon as possible so it can provide support and ensure they have a meter exchange booked in. It also added that customers will have a choice of which tariff they switch to and its specialist teams are on hand to support and find the most appropriate choice for them.

Energy UK is the trade association for the energy industry and it told us suppliers have been pulling out all the stops to replace the remaining RTS meters as soon as possible. It says this includes coordinating resources, mobilising enough installers and ensuring technical solutions are available in every home.

Energy UK says to ensure all affected customers are aware, suppliers have been contacting and alerting customers about the phase out for some time now and have stepped up their efforts up further in recent months. It says this includes direct contact through multiple channels, in addition to extensive outreach and advertising campaigns in partnership with local authorities, consumer groups and Ofgem.

Energy UK also claims that suppliers’ main focus is on stepping up installation rates further – currently over 1,000 a day. It says that replacing the meters means getting access to every single property to carry out the installation, many of which are in remote areas, which can make both initial contact and arranging the replacement difficult, and ultimately requires all customers to respond to contact from their supplier.  

Energy UK says that given 30th June is fast-approaching, the industry is also working closely with the Government and regulator on a carefully managed phase out process to avoid disruption to any remaining customers, particularly those in vulnerable circumstances.

Energy UK also said if customers were previously told that a replacement wasn’t yet possible due to technical challenges - such as weak smart meter signal - these solutions are now in place, so it urges those customers, along with anyone else still awaiting an upgrade, to contact their supplier without delay. It says booking a meter replacement appointment now will ensure a smooth change that enables customers’ heating and hot water to continue operating in the same way. Energy UK adds that if customers are worried that they have an appointment booked after 30th June, then this has been taken into account as part of the phase out plan.

You can watch the full VT here for 28 days - /iplayer/episode/m002ddht/the-one-show-12062025