Residential advanced metering penetration in the U.S. 2020, by region

The penetration of advanced metering programs for residential customers in the U.S. was at 65 percent in 2020. The West South Central region had the highest penetration in the country at the time, with 82.1 percent. In contrast, New England had the lowest penetration, at only 23 percent.

What is advanced metering?

Traditional electricity meters are capable of measuring the total consumption but provide no information on when that energy was consumed. Advanced metering allows for automatic, two-way communication between a smart utility meter and a utility company. In turn, utility companies gather more frequent real-time data about power consumption, while consumers can better utilize energy based on prices at that time. Smart meters usually record the consumption of electricity every hour, or even less, and send the information to utilities for billing and monitoring.

Advanced metering in the United States

In 2021, there were more than 111.2 million advanced meters in the United States. Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation and Florida Power & Light Corporation were the leading U.S. electric utilities in advanced smart meter installations, with around 5.5 million units each.