The government has finally responded to the consultation on the metering and billing aspects of last year's energy white paper, discussing options for rolling out real-time networked energy meters in the UK.

But while the industry has been hoping for a mandated approach to smart metering across the country, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), which is co-funding trials and assessments, has still not provided support for such a move.

BERR will soon hold a further consultation on its final proposals and will seek more discussion with stakeholders over any plans to roll out smart meters to small businesses.

The energy industry insists that smart meters will spell the end for estimated billing, reduce bad debts, influence consumer behaviour and ease the load on the national grid.

But the government said earlier this month that it is being forced to make conservative estimates for the plan, as the associated costs could be much higher than is widely thought.