Dive Brief:

• The penetration of advanced meters continues to climb, and according to data from the Energy
  Information Administration almost 6 million advanced meters were installed and between 2011 and 2012.
• There are currently about 46 million advanced meters installed, representing roughly 30% of all meters in the United States.
• FERC staff's assessment also looked at demand response, finding the resource potential reached 28,798 MW in 2013, a 9.3% increase over 2012 levels.

Dive Insight:

At the end of 2007 advanced meters made up less than 5% of all meters in the United States, but according to a FERC report released last month almost 40 million were installed in the in the following five and a half years. The report cites Institute for Electric Innovation estimates that there were 45.8 million smart meters installed as of July 2013, out of about 145 million total meters.

"Recent data indicates that advanced meter penetration rates and the number of advanced meters in
operation continue to increase in the United States," FERC staff said in the report.

The report also notes that potential peak reductions from customers participating in RTO and ISO demand response programs increased as a percentage of total peak demand, rising from 5.6% of peak demand in 2012 to 6.1% in 2013.

But RTO Insider notes that while there is overall growth, it is uneven and in some regions there were reductions even before an appeals court decision invalidated FERC Order 745. In ISO New England, for instance, potential peak reductions fell from 2,679 MW in 2012 to 2,100 MW in 2013.