Nearly half of US electricity customers now use smart meters

While nearly half of all U.S. electricity customers use smart meter technology with two-way communication capabilities, smart meter penetration rates vary widely across the country, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday.

Approximately 71 million advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart meters had been installed by the end of 2016. That accounts for 47 percent of the 150 million electricity customers in the United States.

Washington, D.C, and Nevada have the highest smart meter penetration rates with 97 percent and 96 percent, respectively. Six more states have AMI penetration rates higher than 80 percent. Fewer than 20 percent of residential customers were using smart meters in 12 states.

“Differences in smart meter penetration rates are often driven by state legislation and regulation, as some states require that regulators approve utilities’ cost recovery mechanisms for metering projects,” EIA reported.

EIA also found that many residential customers are unaware that they’re using smart meters. Although nationwide smart meter adoption was at 44 percent in 2015, just 22 percent of households reporting having a smart meter at the time, and 49 percent reported not having one. Just 8 percent of survey respondents were aware they had access to hourly and daily data.