Over 15 million electricity smart meters have been installed since the rollout began in 2012, reaching a new milestone for the programme.
This comes as 163,000 smart meter installations were recorded in February, according to data from ElectraLink’s Energy Market Data Hub.
Whilst these installations helped to reach the new milestone, there were 30% fewer in the month compared to February 2020 when the cumulative smart meter installation count passed 13 million.
This follows installations also falling significantly in January, taking a 40% year-on-year tumble as a result of enduring COVID-19 restrictions, with 149,000 smart meter installations taking place.
In February, the areas with the highest numbers of installations were East England and Southern England, which both recorded 23,000 installations in the month, with this followed by the East Midlands with 18,000 installations.
ElectraLink’s director of data and transformation, Dan Hopkinson, said the success of net zero “is hinged on the smart meter rollout reaching a large majority of households and businesses”, adding that reaching 15 million installations is therefore “positive news”.
Hopkinson added that ElectraLink is looking forward to a “re-energised smart meter rollout emerging as the government lifts social restrictions and more households and businesses can benefit from greater awareness of their energy consumption”.