How many smart meters are installed in the United States, and who has them?
In 2022, U.S. electric utilities had about 119 million advanced (smart) metering infrastructure (AMI) installations, equal to about 72% of total electric meters installations. Residential customers accounted for about 88% of total AMI installations, and about 73% of total residential electric meters were AMI meters.
AMI includes meters that measure and record electricity usage at a minimum of hourly intervals and that provide the data to both the utility and the utility customer at least once a day. AMI installations range from basic hourly interval meters to real-time meters with built-in two-way communication that is capable of recording and transmitting instantaneous data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) does not publish data on natural gas meters or water meters.
Number and percentage share of AMI installations by sector, 2021 | ||||
Residential | Commercial | Industrial | Transportation | Total |
104,237,855 (73%) | 13,908,481 (69%) | 574,726 (68%) | 1,879 (55%) | 118,722,741 (72%) |
Learn more:
Advanced metering count by technology type; counts by sector from 2013 through most recent year available
Nearly half of all U.S. electricity customers have smart meters
The number of electric smart meters operating in two-way mode has surpassed the number of one-way smart meters
State policies drive growth in smart meter use
Smart grid legislative and regulatory policies and case studies
Data on Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) installations for individual utilities in EIA-861 database files (file: Advanced metering)
Information on the Smart Grid Investment Grant program under the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009
Last updated: October 20, 2023.
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