The smart meter installation programme has picked up after the usual slow period over the festive season and extraordinary disruption from the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
Suppliers delivered 224,000 smart meter installations in March 2022 – the highest number since November 2021 and two percent more than March last year.
Installations have increased despite higher targets for individual suppliers who have acquired customers through supplier of last resort (SoLR) activity on the back of multiple supplier exits from the market in late 2021.
On 29 March 2022, Ofgem issued an open letter to suppliers on obligations to deliver the smart meter rollout. In the letter – which is published annually – Ofgem stated that it believed suppliers with recent SoLR customers could still meet targets set for 2022.
Trends in regional distribution of installations continued into March, with 24,000 in East England, 25,000 in Southern England and 22,000 in the East Midlands. There have been 17.85mn cumulative installations in Britain since the programme began.
These insights were provided by ElectraLink’s Data Transfer Service Operations Team. For any questions on the information or data sources, please contact our helpdesk at [email protected]. Call 020 7432 3012 for any questions about our energy market data services or visit the Energy Market Data Hub on our website.
ElectraLink’s Advisory Services experts, with decades of experience in regulatory consulting, are available for energy market participants needing training, guidance and processes to deliver their obligations for the smart meter rollout. Contact the team at [email protected].
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NOTES:
These figures represent electricity smart meter installations in GB.
The analysis is based on the D0150 data flows transmitted across our network and we believe capture the vast majority of electricity smart installs.
The users of the DTS have given ElectraLink permission to intercept and analyse this, and other data flows, subject to certain conditions.
Our analysis defines smart meters as those models with the capability to handle time of use tariffs and which can be remotely updated.
For installations after September 2013, we count all meters flagged as SMETS1, SMETS2 or non-SMETS. For installations before the industry standard designation was agreed, the allocation is based on the make and model of meter.