Frequently Asked Questions
How many smart meters are installed in the United States, and who has them?
In 2015, U.S. electric utilities had about 64.7 million advanced (smart) metering infrastructure (AMI) installations.1 About 88% of the AMI installations were residential customer installations.
Advanced metering infrastructure 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 of AMI installations by sector, 2015 |
||||
Residential |
Commercial |
Industrial |
Transportation |
Total |
57,107,785 |
7,324,345 |
310,889 |
813 |
64,743,832 |
1 The most recent annual data available at the time of update.
Learn more:
Advanced metering count by technology type
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 meters)
Other information on smart meter deployments funded by the Smart Grid Investment Grant program under the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009
Last Updated: December 7, 2016
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