20 million second-gen smart meters connected to DCC network in Britain

The Data Communications Company (DCC) has reported 20 million second-generation (SMETS2) smart meters are now connected to its national smart meter network.

The 20 million milestone was reached on 15 August with a connection by British Gas in the southern England city of Chichester.

The smart meter network is considered a critical part of the nation’s energy infrastructure and an important platform for digitalising the power grid.

The installation of the SMETS2 smart meters began in 2018, with the aim to enable seamless supplier switching compared with the SMETS1 meters, which were designed to be cellular communication based and with which compatibility issues had arisen with switching.

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Subsequently, however, almost 12 million SMETS1 meters have been connected to the DCC network, with the migration of the total around 15 million due to be completed by the end of the year.

With an average daily connection rate of over 15,000 SMETS2 meters and almost 2.2 billion messages sent monthly, the data that is becoming available is considered to have considerable potential to support the energy transition.

“I’m delighted that we’ve now reached another key milestone in the smart meter rollout, with 20 million second-generation meters now connected to our network, giving a combined total of just under 32 million SMETS1 and SMETS2 on the wall,” commented Penny Brown, chief operating officer at the DCC.

“Thanks goes to all of our customers and suppliers, by working together we are bringing the benefits of smart meters to more homes and small businesses than ever before.”

The government’s latest update indicates that as of March 2024, a total of almost 35.5 million smart electricity and gas meters were installed, with 31.6 million operating in smart mode and 3.9 million in traditional mode.

These latter meters are being prioritised in the SMETS1 meter migration to the DCC network, with replacement with a SMETS2 meter if a problem arises in the process.

In Q1 of 2024 almost three quarters of a million smart meters were installed by the large suppliers in domestic properties and 33,500 in smaller non-domestic sites, both around 10% down on the previous quarter.

In total there are around 31 million electricity and 24.5 million gas metering points operated by the large suppliers in domestic and smaller non-domestic properties and almost 1.5 million metering points operated by the small suppliers across Great Britain.