What are personalised energy tariffs?
Personalised energy tariffs are time of use deals shaped around how a particular household actually uses electricity, rather than one set of off peak hours designed for the average home. The idea comes from a September 2026 report by Cornwall Insight, commissioned by Secure Meters, which argues that suppliers could pair smart meter data with demographic information to build tariffs for night shift workers, busy families, heat pump owners and people with home batteries.
It’s a report, not a product. You can’t ring your supplier and ask for a personalised energy tariff today. But the report explains why so few of us are on a cheaper time of use deal, and that part is useful now. Here are the four facts, then the honest answer to “should I do anything about it”.
Fact one: 70% of homes have the meter, under 3% use a smart tariff
This is the gap the report is about. Cornwall Insight cites government figures showing around 70% of households in Great Britain now have a smart meter capable of supporting a time of use tariff. Yet, citing Ofgem, those tariffs account for fewer than 3% of the domestic market.
The reasons it gives will sound familiar. Many households assume their lifestyle means they won’t save. Others think the effort of shifting washing and charging to off peak hours isn’t worth the hassle. And most of the tariffs on sale are built for one group, which brings us to fact two.
Fact two: today’s smart tariffs are mostly built for electric cars
Cornwall Insight’s own data shows EV charging accounts for 78% of all time of use customers. The number of time of use customers grew 68% in the year to July 2026, but it grew among people with a car to charge overnight. If you don’t own an EV, the cheap window at 2am isn’t much use, and that’s the thing personalised energy tariffs are meant to fix.
The report’s examples are deliberately ordinary. A nurse on nights who uses most of her electricity when everyone else is asleep. A family with no time to think about energy. A prepayment household that could use pricing built around its circumstances. Dr Matthew Chadwick, the report’s lead analyst, put it as tariffs that show people “the financial benefits that fit them, and not only what works for some abstract average household.”
| Figure from the Cornwall Insight report | Value | Source cited |
|---|---|---|
| GB households with a smart meter | Around 70% | DESNZ smart meter statistics to March 2026 |
| Share of the domestic market on a time of use tariff | Under 3% | Ofgem State of the Nation 2025 |
| Time of use customers who are EV chargers | 78% | Cornwall Insight EV service |
| Growth in time of use customers, year to July 2026 | 68% | Cornwall Insight |
Figures as published by Cornwall Insight on 22 September 2026, checked October 2026.
Fact three: “fit and forget” is the other half of the plan
Personalised energy tariffs only work if people don’t have to think about them. The report pairs them with automation: systems that shift the dishwasher, the heat pump or the battery to cheaper periods without anyone setting an alarm. That tackles the time barrier and the knowledge barrier together. It’s also the bit that could nudge more households into buying a heat pump or a home battery in the first place, because a cheaper overnight rate makes the sums work.
Whether suppliers actually build any of this is the open question. The report is a case for it, and Secure Meters, which paid for it, sells metering. Treat it as a direction of travel, not a promise.
Fact four: you can test the idea on today’s tariffs
You don’t need to wait for personalised energy tariffs to find out whether off peak pricing suits you. Our guide to time of use tariffs walks through the current deals, and our Economy 7 guide covers the oldest version of the same idea. The test is simple: look at when you use electricity, and whether a chunk of it falls, or could fall, into a cheap window.
Your smart meter already has the answer. The in home display or your supplier’s app shows usage by half hour, and our post on reading your smart meter explains where to look. A week of data tells you more than any report.
Would personalised energy tariffs save me money?
Possibly, and the honest answer depends on your routine. Cornwall Insight notes that some estimates, including one from EDF, suggest certain time of use tariffs could save hundreds of pounds a year for households that use a lot of electricity off peak. That’s an estimate for a particular pattern of use, not a figure to expect. A household that uses most of its power at teatime could just as easily pay more on a time of use tariff, because the peak rate is higher.
So the rule is the one that applies to every tariff: compare on your own usage, not the typical household’s. And remember the Do Nothing Default. The price cap rose 4% from 1 October 2026, and sitting on a standard variable tariff because the smart tariff world looks confusing is still a decision, just an expensive one. Comparing takes about a minute and the result reflects your postcode and usage.
Frequently asked questions about personalised energy tariffs
- Can I get a personalised energy tariff now?
- Not as described in the report. What exists today are time of use tariffs with fixed off peak windows, mostly aimed at EV owners, plus older products like Economy 7.
- Do I need a smart meter for a time of use tariff?
- Yes, for almost all of them. The meter has to record usage by half hour so the supplier can bill different rates at different times.
- Who wrote the report on personalised energy tariffs?
- Cornwall Insight, an energy market analyst, in a report commissioned by Secure Meters and published on 22 September 2026.
- Are time of use tariffs covered by the price cap?
- The cap sets limits on default tariffs. Time of use deals are priced differently, so compare the whole year’s cost against the cap rather than the headline off peak rate.
- Could a personalised energy tariff cost me more?
- Any tariff with a higher peak rate can, if your usage sits in the peak. That’s why the report stresses showing people what they would actually save before they sign up.
Sources: Cornwall Insight, “Millions Could Benefit from a New Wave of Personalised Energy Tariffs”, 22 September 2026, read 23 October 2026, with its cited DESNZ and Ofgem statistics; Ofgem price cap announcement for October to December 2026, 26 August 2026. Checked October 2026.
