Blog Post

Total Number of Installed Smart Meters surpasses 16 million

Richard Simmonds • August 20, 2021

The latest figures released by Electralink shows that the smart meter rollout has hit another landmark with 16 million installed in homes and small businesses since the start of the smart meter rollout back in 2012.

Strong increase in installations in July

The easing of Covid-19 restrictions has allowed energy suppliers to dispatch more engineers into properties in recent months. July in particular was a strong month for installations with 223,000 recorded.

Compared to the same time last year the number of installed meters was 47% higher as restrictions on the rollout was eased.

Data released earlier this month by the Data Communications Company (DCC) showed that the number of smart meters now connected to its network doubled over the past year as more of the older generation of meters (SMETS1) regained smart functionality.

Electralink explained that the data it publishes every month is electricity smart meter installations only. Since most gas meters will be installed with an electricity meter it feels there is no need to report two because it counts installations, not meters.

Also read: Number of Smart Meters connected to the DCC network surpasses 6.7 million in just 12 months

What areas of the country have most embraced Smart Meters?

Of interest to energy suppliers is the data showing the areas of the UK that have most embraced smart meters. With the government and Ofgem expecting suppliers to soon hit installation targets, suppliers need to know what areas are most open to having a meter.

The South and East of England remain the top regions for installation with 26,000 and 30,000 installed respectively in July. Coming up in third place was the East Midlands with 21,000 meters installed.

Several more regions have finally surpassed the 1 million installations mark with the south of Scotland being the latest to hit that landmark. So far the East, North West, South East and Southern England, Yorkshire and the East and West Midlands have surpassed 1 million installations.

Other areas are proving more resistant to smart meters and it will take energy suppliers effort to try and convince those customers to embrace the technology. The media isn’t making it easy, however, with negative articles about the rollout being published virtually every day.

Energy suppliers need to clearly communicate with their consumers about the benefits of smart meters.

Also read: Debunking the most common myths about Smart Meters

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