Smart Meter Installations Down 15% in First Quarter

Installations of next-generation gas and electricity meters dipped in the first quarter of the year, as coronavirus restrictions kept energy suppliers out of customers’ homes.

Between January and March, energy suppliers installed 980,000 smart energy meters in British homes, down 15% from the fourth quarter of 2019, according to figures from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). That’s despite a productive January and February when installation rates outstripped those in the previous quarter.

Installations began to fall on 12 March, when the UK entered a delay phase to limit the spread of COVID-19. They then halted on 23 March, when lockdown measures suspended all but essential field-based activity for energy suppliers. 

Large suppliers including British Gas, E.ON, Npower and OVO subsequently furloughed hundreds of smart meter installers.

Installation of smart and advanced meters at commercial sites also tumbled in the first quarter, down 31% to 22,000. 

By the end of March, there were 21.5 million smart and advanced meters live in UK homes and small businesses, millions more than the 15 million online last June. Millions of these were second-generation SMETS2 meters. The three-millionth SMETS2 meter was installed in November and by February, 90% of all meters being installed were the second-generation meters, which allow households to switch energy suppliers without losing connectivity to their meters.

However, the suspension of installations during the COVID-19 crisis has raised doubts that even the extended smart meter target—to install the next generation meters in 85% of homes and small businesses by the end of 2024—might be unachievable.

Energy UK was already warning that the 2024 deadline might be unattainable, mostly due to lack of consumer appetite for the meters. The trade body for the sector has forecast that just 68% of homes will have smart meters by the deadline and just one in eight suppliers will meet their 85% target by that date. 

However, the Data Communications Centre (DCC), which handles smart meter installations, has suggested that the rollout will continue at pace once lockdown measures are lifted.

A DCC spokesperson said: “Before Covid interrupted the roll-out, 31 second-generation smart meters were being installed every minute. We’re ready to support energy companies to resume that effort as soon as the lockdown is lifted.”