Great Britain smart meter rollout: status and targets

Who runs the rollout

According to the June 2026 statistical bulletin, the programme is "led by the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, regulated by Ofgem, and delivered by energy suppliers." Suppliers are responsible for the smart metering assets, including installing them. The Data Communications Company (DCC) runs the national network that carries smart meter data, through a communications hub fitted with each meter.

The figures cover Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), not Northern Ireland.

Where the rollout stands

Source: DESNZ, Table 1. Large suppliers to end June 2026, small suppliers to end December 2025.

Of the 40 million smart meters, 92% were operating in smart mode, meaning they communicate remotely with the supplier. In homes, 75% of properties had a smart electricity meter and 57% a smart gas meter.

Installations are now as much replacement as new

Large suppliers installed 1,095,000 meters in the second quarter of 2026. Of those, 525,000 were new installations and 570,000 were replacements, which DESNZ describes as work "to ensure continuation of smart services where an existing smart or advanced meter has been installed." This is the first bulletin to report replacements separately, so earlier quarters are not directly comparable.

That split matters. A large part of the field work in Great Britain is no longer first-time installation. It is swapping meters and communications hubs that already exist.

What changed after 2025

From 2022 to the end of 2025, suppliers worked to annual installation targets under the Targets Framework. In March 2026 the government published its post-2025 policy framework. The main decisions:

• Finish the domestic rollout by the end of 2030. Suppliers must take all reasonable steps to install smart meters in all remaining domestic premises by then. This replaces the Targets Framework for domestic meters.
• Fix meters in traditional mode within 90 days. Suppliers must take all reasonable steps to get a meter back into smart mode no later than 90 days after they first become aware it has stopped.
• Replace equipment before 2G and 3G switch off. Suppliers must pre-emptively replace smart metering equipment that would stop communicating when Wide Area Network services end, including the 2G and 3G switch-off by the end of 2033. The DCC must publish a statement of the dates from which it can no longer provide SMETS1 and 2G/3G communication services.
• Annual deployment plans. Suppliers submit a plan to Ofgem each year covering installations, operations and replacements.
• Binding milestones from January 2027. Annual milestones for new installations and pre-emptive replacements become binding, without tolerances.

What this means for field teams

Three kinds of job will make up the GB workload until 2030 and beyond:

1. First installations to replace the 15.9 million non-smart meters still operating.
2. Smart mode recovery. A meter in traditional mode now has a 90-day clock. Each one is a diagnosis visit, much like non-communicating meter (NCM) resolution elsewhere.
3. Pre-emptive replacement of communications hubs and meters ahead of the 2G and 3G switch-off.

Because milestones become binding in 2027, each job needs evidence that holds up: serials, photos, location, and a clear outcome. That is what installation verification software is for. PIEBENCH runs these jobs on an offline Android app with an approval step before work is reported. Plans start at $199/month.

How to read these numbers

• Smart vs advanced. Advanced meters are fitted to some non-domestic customers instead of smart meters. DESNZ reports them separately.
• Smart mode vs traditional mode. A smart meter in traditional mode is on the wall but not communicating, so it is read like an old meter.
• Reporting periods differ. Large suppliers report every quarter. Small suppliers report once a year, so their figures lag.
• Next release. DESNZ has scheduled the next quarterly update for 26 November 2026. We update this page after each release.

For other countries, see the smart meter rollout tracker.