In-Stat research shows 75 percent of U.S. electric meters will be smart meters by 2016

by Brianna Crandall — March 28, 2012—New research from Scottsdale, Arizona-based international research and consulting group NPD In-Stat forecasts that by 2016, over 75% of all U.S. electric meters will be converted to smart meters. In-Stat notes that the smart grid is an enormous worldwide effort to modernize the complex electrical grid, which consists of an incredible variety of electrical systems managed by a vast maze of utilities.

In the United States alone, there are more than 3,000 separate utilities, local governments, and private companies operating America’s electrical grid, adds In-Stat.

“Over the next five years, and for decades thereafter, the world will be deploying the smart grid,” says Allen Nogee, Research Director. “Initially, most of this will be smart meters, but once those are out, client devices, software, and home automation equipment may all benefit as consumers and utilities make use of the information that smart meters provide. While utilities will be big beneficiaries from the smart grid movement, consumers will benefit as well, with more choices in rate plans and a much better understanding of the link between their electricity usage and their costs.”

Recent In-Stat research found:

• Worldwide smart meter revenue will surpass $12 billion in 2016.
  
• ZigBee leads in smart meter home area network technology; powerline and wireless lead in smart meter backhaul.
  
• China will deploy 280 million smart meters by 2016.
  
• The number of smart meters deployed in the United States per year will decline after peaking in 2011, when stimulus money prompted utilities to update their meters, but worldwide, smart meter deployment will continue to grow.