MSP Kenneth Gibson is encouraging constituents to take advantage of smart meters to help save energy and money.

Smart meters work with an energy monitor that can be placed anywhere in the home, to show how much energy is being used and how much it costs. One can view both gas and electricity consumption to see how much it costs to boil the kettle or leave the heating on at night. When one sees how much is being used, small changes can be made to use less and save money.

The cutting-edge technology has been developed in Scotland and Kenneth attended a Scottish Gas event in Parliament to mark the installation of more than 200,000 smart meters by the company in Scottish homes.

Scottish Gas’ Smart Energy Experts, who install smart meters in homes, were on hand to showcase the technology and to talk about the benefits to customers.

Kenneth Gibson said: “Meeting Scottish Gas’ Smart Energy Experts was a great way to learn how my constituents could benefit from smart meters. I’d urge anyone to find out more about this. With smart meters, people can save energy and keep on top of bills by using this technology, which is being developed here in Scotland.”

Scottish Gas Smart Engineer and Apprentice of the Year, Graham Hogg added: “I’m proud to be part of the smart meter roll-out in Scotland. Smart meters mean an end to estimated bills and the need to give meter readings. Customers can see how much energy they’re. It’s a really simple way for our customers to save energy.”

Scottish Gas smart meters replace standard meters and come with a smart energy monitor which helps people to better understand their energy usage, resulting in potential savings on bills. Customers also benefit from an end to estimated bills, because the meters automatically send accurate readings to the supplier.

For further information, visit www.britishgas.co.uk/smart

For more information on smart meters, please contact Leigh Franks on 07557 618488.

The Scottish Gas Energy Trust is a charity that supports households struggling with energy bills by providing grants to help with arrears, as well as funding advisors who provide face to face advice and support. This help is open to everyone, not just Scottish Gas customers and, since 2004, it has provided over 59,700 people with grants worth over £53,500,000. To get in touch, please see: http://www.britishgasenergytrust.org.uk/