
Borders-based Spark Energy – which provides energy for rented properties – has formed a partnership with the Orchard and Shipman residential lettings firm.
Spark Energy will be fitting 1,200 Orchard and Shipman properties in Glasgow with Smart Meters, heralding the first phase of its nation-wide roll out and saving the housing provider hundreds of man-hours each year which would be spent taking meter readings.
Glasgow-based SMS, another company which Spark has recently partnered with, is one of only four businesses currently offering Meter Asset Manager (MAM) services, which energy suppliers will be required by regulation to appoint to carry out the installations.
Smart Meters increase bill accuracy for housing providers as usage is recorded in real-time, negating the need for meter readings to be taken. This makes massive savings on administration time and reduces the likelihood of incorrect payments.
Lee Richards, Group Operations Director at Orchard & Shipman, said: “Our agreement with Spark Energy allows us to deliver upon this commitment by ensuring our landlords and tenants benefit from the SMART Meter programme.
“Throughout our interactions, the team at Spark has demonstrated a level of customer service and engagement that made the choice of energy provider very straight-forward.
“Following the Glasgow program, we look forward to being able to introduce Spark across the remainder of our property portfolio throughout the UK.”