Smart meter installations have increased year-on-year for the first time since the lockdown began according to new data from ElectraLink.
In September 2020, 232,000 smart meters were installed, which was up 1.8% on September 2019 which recorded 228,000 installations. This is the first month since March to increase installations compared to the year before.
Installations of smart meters were paused due to the COVID-19 lockdown in March, but later restarted again in June.
As a result of this, the government extended the obligation for suppliers to take All Reasonable Steps (ARS) to install smart meters by six months. This gave suppliers until July 2021 to meet the installation milestones required for the ARS stage of the smart meter rollout.
Signs of recovery have been clear, with installations in August up 20% compared to July and installations in July up 120% compared to June.
Overall, 1,333,000 smart meters have been installed in Great Britain so far this year, with the East of England racking up the most installations at 31,000. This is followed by Southern England at 27,000 and the East Midlands at 24,000.
Since the smart meter programme began, 14,038,000 have been installed, with the one millionth installation of the year recorded in September.
