The era of the National Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) in the UK has finally come to an end as of March 2025. For many years, RTS metres enabled businesses to automatically access important off-peak tariffs, such as Economy 7 or Economy 10, by receiving a national radio signal. RTS metre phase-out is done and dusted – and the economic impact is already being experienced by thousands of businesses that are still using the previous models.
Those businesses that still have not supported RTS to smart metre upgrade are left to pay increased energy prices, unstandardised bills, and hazards in how their business might operate without set energy infrastructure. While this has created these challenges, it is also an opportunity. For those businesses willing to adapt and act, the phase-out allows the business to take the opportunity to reset their energy infrastructure to match their new contracts, alongside the introduction of innovations to save energy and cost.
E for Energy, which helps commercial organizations reduce their electricity bills, discusses how to respond to this monumental change – and how it can be used as a competitive advantage.
RTS metres were used to help manage time-based tariffs, which allows the supplier to switch the electricity price for peak and off-peak times using a long-wave radio signal. These metres were suitable for tariffs such as Economy 7, where businesses and households have traditionally paid lower rates for electricity usage at night.
However, with the national radio signal being switched off in March 2025, RTS metres can no longer automatically switch. Consequently:
• Businesses are unfairly charged and have lost out on reduced off-peak prices.
• Many are charged at standard day rates regardless of usage time.
• Many suppliers have been transferring RTS users to their default tariffs, frequently at higher rates.
• Any readings now rely on old/outdated or estimated data, which reduces billing accuracy.
The government and the energy sector have made it explicit that RTS was an old, unsupported, and uncompliant system and its demise was long overdue if not very much required. Thus, making RTS to smart metre upgrade UK a much-needed step.
RTS metres were more commonly used by businesses with significant overnight or time-specific energy demand. Typically, this includes:
• Hotels and B&Bs with electric hot water, or electric space heating systems
• Commercial laundries or dry cleaners operating heavy equipment during off-peak hours
• Care homes and hospitals with constant demand for hot water and heating
• Cold storage facilities for food and pharmaceuticals that have running 24/7 refrigeration systems
• Office buildings and business parks with automated heating and load controls
These businesses designed their operations to maximize lower overnight prices. Without a switching mechanism currently in place, the electricity that would have qualified for off-peak pricing is now being billed at full peak prices—diminishing profit month-over-month.
For RTS Customers, the only potential upgrade is to a smart metre. A digital service, this alternative, records and transmits energy usage (in near real-time). Smart metres provide the data and flexibility that RTS metres simply cannot.
The benefits of smart metres include:
• Billing is based on actual use rather than estimated forecasts.
• Remote metre reading, reducing administration time and even mistakes.
• Availability of dynamic tariffs; such as flexible or time-of-use tariffs.
• Compatibility with energy efficiency programs, demand response, and sustainability strategies.
Unlike RTS metres, which do not enable suppliers and businesses to align their tariff structure to the business’ actual usage profile, smart metres give suppliers and businesses opportunities to drive long-term cost reductions; if the business is on the right tariff and with the right supplier.
E for Energy partners directly with business owners, helping them make the most of the transition away from RTS. They do more than just replace old metres; they provide smart strategies to lower energy costs.
Here’s what they do:
1. Complete Management of Metre Upgrade Process
2. Assessing Cost to Swap RTS Metre
3. Finding and Switching to Better Energy Deals
4. VAT & CCL Audit
5. Market Monitoring
• Keeping clients abreast of trends in energy.
• Time supplier switches with market lows or government incentives.
• Advise on a future-proof energy strategy.
What do you get? An immediate savings and long-term cost management fuelled by professional data analysis.
The consequences of delaying the replacement of RTS metres don’t just delay savings—it creates tangible financial risk. Businesses that have not upgraded are probably now paying:
• An overcharge of up to 30% because they are being charged at default tariffs.
• Inadequate billed volumes because they are lowest on time-of-use estimates.
• Missing out on access to renewable tagged or flex-off peak tariffs.
• Taxes or CCL being incorrectly charged (VAT or CCL out of context).
• Changes of tenancy were delayed because network service metres and arrangements are no longer supported.
The longer a business waits to upgrade its metres, the more it will pay—this is not just financially, but more in terms of increasingly limited agility in a fast-evolving energy market.
Energy companies are now investing in dynamic and intelligent tariffs; tariffs that can follow real-world consumption patterns and grid demands. Here are three examples of such innovative tariffs:
• Time-of-use tariffs: Prices will vary based on the time of day, and provide an incentive to consume at low demand or at night.
• Renewable energy pricing: Lower pricing for consuming green electricity when the grid is met with a surplus.
• Peak avoidance: Discounts for avoiding consumption during peak national demand windows.
None of these advances are available without a smart metre and without a smart contract vehicle for negotiation.
E for Energy ensures that businesses do not just install smart technology, but benefit from using it by partnering with innovating suppliers of electricity who deliver the best value.
For businesses that are expanding or relocating, RTS metres have become a regulatory obstacle. Energy suppliers will no longer establish RTS accounts for:
• New commercial property onboarding.
• Change-of-tenancy registrations.
• Service reconnections or site upgrades.
Delays in upgrading metres can be a huge problem causing delayed property transitions and temporary disconnections. E for Energy helps navigate these handovers and liaises with all parties (the outgoing, and incoming parties) to make sure there is no disruption to service and the contracts are transferred correctly.
The RTS ended, but the fallout has only just started. For UK Companies still using these metres, the impacts are financial, operational, and regulatory.
But it also presents a unique opportunity to modernise energy strategy, reduce spend mitigate long-term energy costs develop control. To replace all of this archaic process, with smart metre/feed-in tariffs, flexible tariffs, and excellent negotiable contracts, we have the ability to provide a cost-effective and accurate approach to electricity.
E for Energy is in the business of making your access to electric power painful, easy & seamless. All of our services are designed to lower the overall electricity price, as well as support sustainable business operations. From usage analysis to the best supplier contracts.
📞 Contact us for a smart metre transition review and comparison of suppliers catered to your needs.