The smart electric meter market is expected to surpass $36bn by 2030, according to market watcher Global Market Insights.

Favourable regulatory policies along with positive consumer tendency towards the integration of smart meters for effective energy consumption and monitoring should pave a way for strong potential growth in the forecast period. Moreover, rising concerns pertaining to electricity thefts and meter tampering have urged utilities to integrate an effective monitoring facility which in turn will foster the industry outlook.

The introduction of regulatory measures and standards towards energy efficiency across commercial establishment should encourage the adoption of intelligent systems, augmenting the demand for smart meters. Ongoing efforts to develop green buildings should further propel the need for effective monitoring of energy consumption, thereby complementing the technology deployment.

In addition, ongoing refurbishment of commercial establishments including educational institutes, hospitals, offices and others will favour the adoption of sustainable and smart technologies, including smart electric meters over the forecast period.

The automated meter reading (AMR) smart electric meter market is anticipated to grow over the forecast period owing to its high application across commercial and industries including power generation, retail, hostels and others. Tamper notification, outage detection, increased efficiencies and reduced labour cost are few of the features and factors offered by AMR technology which should augment its adoption rate.

Furthermore, more flexible billing cycles along with easy monitoring of meter readings are some key factors that could positively sway the business outlook across the globe.

Favourable reforms pertaining to the digitalisation of small-scale commercial offices and industries in developing nations coupled with rapid urbanisation should stimulate the adoption of single-phase smart meters. Incorporation of reliable energy networks adhering to the regulatory frameworks including FiTs and incentives should exponentially encourage product adoption.

For instance, in 2020, the government of India introduced ambitious plans to replace the conventional meters with smart pre-paid systems by 2022. Moreover, introducing smart technologies across single family residential establishments should further proliferate the smart electric meter market.

Ongoing efforts of the regulatory bodies to replace existing analogue meters with smart meters should stimulate product penetration across the Middle East and Africa.

For instance, Saudi Electricity in 2021 announced it had installed over ten million smart meter units across the country in a span of 14 months. Moreover, soaring demand for error free electricity billing along with efforts to attain the region’s energy efficiency targets should positively drive the industry growth in the coming years.

Over the past two years, coronavirus has impacted many industries, hindering the global economy. Governments across the globe imposed several lockdown protocols to curb the spread of the virus leading to many businesses shutting down, and major utilities observed a disruption in logistic and transportation operations, which in turn subdued industry growth. However, lifting of lockdown mandates along with the ongoing vaccination drive should kickstart the global economy and various industries including construction and manufacturing, which should pose a growth opportunity for the smart electric meter market.

The report says effective remote monitoring and control capabilities offered by smart meters should augment their adoption across the globe. Rising concerns towards energy conservation should complement product penetration.

Soaring electricity bills across residential and commercial establishments should drive the technology demand positively.

Ongoing integration of renewable energy with the smart grid infrastructure should fuel the requirement for smart technologies including smart meters for reliable monitoring.

Major players operating across the smart electric meter industry include Schneider Electric, Honeywell, Siemens, Aclara Technologies, Itron, General Electric and Circutor.

Favourable governmental incentives for integrating smart technologies across residential, commercial and industrial sector should proliferate the business.