Massive uptick in pace of installation now needed to meet government's 2020 target
The government's target to offer every home and business in the UK a smart meter by the end of 2020 is looking increasingly out of reach, following news yesterday that the pace of installations slowed again in the first three months of 2018.
The official figures are the latest in an almost unbroken downward trend since 2017, suggesting Britain's largest energy suppliers are slowing their rollout of smart meters just at the time the scheme should be gathering pace.
Installations of domestic meters slowed by 6.7 per cent in the first three months of the year compared to the previous quarter, while non-domestic installations slumped 22 per cent.
As of March 2018 around 17.4 million smart and advanced meters have been installed in homes and businesses across Great Britain, but to meet the government's target is expected to require at least 50 million meters to be installed by the end of next year.
That will need smart meters to be installed at around two million per month, compared to the current pace of around 340,000 a month.
Labour's shadow minister for energy and climate change said that in light of yesterday's figures, the target is now looking "impossible to meet". "Whilst smart meters will eventually be a benefit to everyone, the government's handling of the programme has become farcical," he wrote on Twitter. "The minister must refocus on interoperability and push back its ludicrous deadline."