Rollout update: 19.66 million smart electricity meters in GB

During 2022, 2.37 million smart electricity meters were installed to bring the total since the rollout began to 19.66 million.

This number is slightly down on the 2.42 million smart electricity meters installed in 2021, when suppliers accelerated the pace to make up for the time lost during the government-ordered shutdowns of the previous year.

Nevertheless, the data also indicates that installations are continuing at pace, with the latest monthly installations being maintained at typical rates.

With the rollout due by the end of 2025 and suppliers having binding installation targets to meet it will continue to do so, although the suppliers that have taken on customers following the exit of several smaller suppliers are likely to face extra pressures to do so.

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This is according to ElectraLink, the organisation which operates the data hub that underpins the country’s energy market. Its smart meter analysis is based on data flows transmitted across its network and is believed to capture the vast majority of electricity smart meter installs.

Any comparison with the government figures, which are based on supplier reporting – large suppliers quarterly and small suppliers annually – will have to wait another month or so, with the quarterly updates appearing typically around eight weeks after the end of the preceding quarter.

According to the last available statistics from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, at the end of September 2022, there were approximately 17.8 million smart electricity meters in place in homes and small businesses, of which about 16 million were operating in smart mode and 1.8 million in traditional mode.