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Big six supplier Eon has installed 2 million smart meters to date, putting the company in second place behind British Gas in terms of the number of installations.
Utility Week asked all the major retailers for their installations figures to date, ahead of publication by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) of the latest statistics next week.
In response to the installation milestone, Eon’s chief executive Michael Lewis said: “The future of energy is smart, personalised and sustainable.
“It’s a great accomplishment that we’ve now installed two million smart meters in Britain as this is a crucial first step for many householders in helping us, as a nation, reach our net-zero target.
“Through a combination of transformational actions both large and small by customers we can take responsibility across society and take positive action to help combat climate change, ensuring a more sustainable future for the next generation.
“Smart meters are free to install and help give people real power over their energy efficiency, helping to create a smarter grid for us all.”
The latest statistics from BEIS revealed that 15.97 million smart meters had been installed in domestic properties up to 31 March this year.
Currently 1.8 million second-generation (SMETS2) devices have also been installed.
Utility Week contacted the other five large players for their latest stats on smart meter installations to date:
- EDF – 1 million
- Npower – 850,000 (by the end of 2018 financial year)
- SSE – 1.45 million SMETS1, 250,000 SMETS2
- British Gas – 7 million
Scottish Power is yet to respond to the request for comment.
Under the government’s smart meter programme, suppliers must by law “take all reasonable steps” to rollout the devices to all homes and small businesses by the end of 2020. Larger suppliers are required to meet individual annual targets, monitored by the regulator.
The rollout has been plagued with issues since its conception and national media reports have frequently lambasted suppliers, installers and the government over issues such as the lack of interoperability for first-generation (SMETS1) devices when customers switch suppliers.
In November last year the National Audit Office warned that the government’s original ambition of offering a smart meter to every home by 2020 will not be met, whilst the cost of the rollout will likely “escalate beyond initial expectations”.
The government also “underestimated” how long it would take to implement the infrastructure of SMETS2 smart meter devices, according to the spending watchdog.
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