E.ON has celebrated reaching five million smart meter installations across the UK, in what the company has called an significant milestone which “is key to E.ON’s ambition to help customers better manage their energy”.
Smart meters record a households energy consumption and provides customers with a live view of the data, allowing them to identify where cost savings can be made.
Customers that have a smart meter which delivers half-hourly readings are also able to partake in the National Grid ESO’s Demand Flexibility Service (DFS). The service, which went live in early November, consists of participants receiving notifications from the ESO requesting consumers to decrease their demand during constrained periods.
DFS has been popular with energy suppliers including E.ON Next, Octopus Energy, and OVO Energy. In total, there are now 25 providers signed up to provide the service.
National Grid ESO has announced the latest test which is to take place over two hours for the first time, between 17:00 – 19:00 GMT this evening (12 December).
“We’ve always championed smart meters and the benefits they bring – making it easier for consumers to monitor their costs in near real time and helping them to understand ways to cut their energy use” said Michael Lewis, CEO if E.ON UK.
“Smart meters are the foundation of a smarter energy system and we’re already seeing thousands of smart customers take part in the new Demand Flexibility Service that pays people to reduce their energy use at times of high demand on the national grid.”
E.ON has pledged to support the governments target of installing smart meters into every home by 2025 and has expanded its installation services to other suppliers.
The smart meter rollout has been gathering pace, with ESG recently celebrating its 10 millionth smart meter under management via its uSmart platform in the UK. Meanwhile ElectraLink recorded 218,000 smart meter installations in October alone.
Data traffic over the smart meter network is set to increase 500% over the next four years, according to DCC.