Chart of the week | Road to recovery: COVID-19 and the smart rollout

The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the smart meter rollout is uncertain, although modelling from BEIS and Ofgem has provided early indications of future installation levels. In this week’s Chart of the week we compare these assessments against pre-pandemic expectations.

With the introduction of social distancing and lockdown measures in March, the smart meter rollout almost immediately ground to a halt. Industry data indicates that the introduction of measures coincided with a rapid decline in installations, with April’s electricity meter installations seeing a 95% year-on-year decrease. As lockdown measures start to ease, installations have begun to pick up, although a return to normal levels is a long way off, with the long-term impact on the rollout still to be revealed over the coming months and years.

Rowan Hazell

Rowan Hazell

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