Data from ElectraLink has revealed that the 25-millionth smart meter has been installed in Britain, with 194,000 installations last month.
Since ElectraLink, which manages the Data Transfer Service (DTS) and facilitates data transfer between energy companies in the UK electricity market, began tracking the smart meter rollout in 2012, a total of 25.15 million electricity smart meters have been installed across Britain.
In February this year, 194,000 smart meters were installed, around 4% fewer than February 2024. Of these, the majority were installed in the east of England, which saw 23,000 installations, followed by southern England, with 21,000 installations, and the east Midlands, with 19,000 installations.
The vast majority of smart meters installed are second-generation, or SMETS2, meters. Statistics released by the Data Communications Company (DCC) in August 2024 showed that SMETS2 meters had crossed the 20 million installations milestone, having been installed as standard since 2018. Unlike first-generation meters, they allow consumers to switch energy suppliers seamlessly because they are connected to the DCC’s nationwide smart meter network.
Broadly speaking, the smart meter rollout has been slowing down in recent years. January 2025 saw a 10% year-on-year fall in installation numbers, falling from 221,000 in January 2024 to 198,000 in January 2025.
However, while the first two months of 2024 saw a roughly 13% higher installation volume than the first two months of 2025, early 2025’s installation numbers are still outpacing the installation volumes of the first two months of 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Statistics from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) have shown that most of the UK’s electricity meters are now smart. According to DESNZ, the number of smart and “advanced” electricity meters in UK homes and small businesses has surpassed 37 million, and over 65% of meters installed are now smart or advanced. This statistic encompasses a wider range of meters in a wider range of properties than ElectraLink’s calculations.
The UK government initially set a target of installing smart meters in all homes and small businesses by 2025 but scaled this back in September 2023. The new target is to have smart meters installed in 80% of British homes and 73% of small businesses by the end of 2025. However, the current pace of the rollout, which sees under one million smart meters installed every three months, means this target is unlikely to be reached.
