United States Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The United States Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Market is expected to register a CAGR of 11.6% during the forecast period. Smart Meters represent a transformative technology for the utility industry. These technologically advanced meters provide greater insight into the usage of energy. Smart Meters have been employed as a part of advanced metering infrastructure development initiatives worldwide.

Key Highlights

• The development of an integrated, IT-enabled power grid and other pattern analysis support software benefits users greatly. This kind of grid, also known as a "smart grid," aids in increasing distributed production while lowering costs, fostering energy efficiency, and improving the overall security and dependability of the production, transmission, and distribution system. AMI must be used in all smart grid initiatives.
• The COVID-19 outbreak has boosted market growth because the energy and utility sectors provide critical services, forcing the industry to reconsider how it conducts business and interacts with both its employees and customers. However, as the pandemic impacted industrial and commercial work sites and altered load patterns, utilities' critical role in supplying energy to society changed.
• The United States is the region's key player, with the largest driver of the smart meters market, due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which included funding for the Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) program. The high demand for smart meters will drive the demand for the Advanced Metering Infrastructure market in the United States.
• The number of houses in the United States represents the potential market scope for utilities providing gas, and as new homes are built, sales of smart gas meters are expected to rise. Manufacturers of smart gas meters in the United States are hoping to capitalize on this opportunity as demand grows.
• As more new homes are built, an increasing proportion of them will have smart meters installed as part of AMI, extending its widespread adoption. According to the Institute for Electric Innovation, 107.0 million smart meters will be installed in the United States by the end of 2020. Furthermore, according to EEI, AMI will be available to nearly 70% of US customers by 2021.
• Furthermore, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for the Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) program has bolstered the United States' advanced metering infrastructure. The widespread use of AMI in newly constructed homes is expected to fuel demand for smart meters in the country.
• However, Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project implementation success is far more difficult to achieve than technology success and should be the primary focus of any utility embarking on an AMI journey. Failure to meet schedule milestones, failure to meet utility expectations and requirements, poor coordination of necessary implementation tasks, and a lack of readiness to accept the organizational changes imposed by AMI systems are all common challenges for AMI projects.

Key Market Trends

Smart Metering Devices will Command a Significant Market Share

• Smart metering solutions include meters or modules with communication capabilities (either unidirectional or bidirectional) embedded within or attached to the meter. Smart meters are becoming more popular due to the primary concern of increasing energy consumption, as they enable two-way communication between the meter and the central system used by utilities.
• Additionally, the digitalization of the electrical grid is already enhancing energy systems' efficiency, security, usability, and sustainability. For instance, using smart lighting and thermostats can reduce the overall energy use in commercial and residential buildings by 10% by 2040, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report. In addition, significant investments in digital electricity infrastructure open up market opportunities for smart meters in the United States.
• Smart meter deployment also enables implementing a Home Energy Management System (HEMS) or Building Energy Management System (BEMS) that allows visualization of the electric power usage in individual homes or entire buildings.
• Furthermore, various grid operators, as well as other gas and water utility providers, are effectively managing the demand for smart meters. Furthermore, smart city initiatives include the use of digital technologies for smart retail, IoT, smart mobility, and smart metering in order to create a sustainable city. Thus, such factors are expected to drive market growth.
• However, the high cost associated with smart meter installation borne by end users limits the market growth. Smart meters are an important component of smart city initiatives because they rely heavily on smart grid systems to ensure flexible distribution of electricity to power their various functions. Furthermore, a smart grid in a smart city enables renewable integration and clean energy production close to where it is needed, providing an opportunity for market growth.
• Also, targeted programs to the end-users are likely to benefit alongside leveraging smart electric meters for energy efficiency. For instance, Pacific Gas & Electric, in the United States, reported AMI targeting for a home retrofit program delivered 3.5 times more energy savings in the targeted homes. Additionally, the integration of smart electric meters with technologies such as data analytics is expected to further foster the growth of the market in the region.

Shift Toward Energy Efficient/Saving Alternatives

• Advanced metering infrastructure is a technical solution to obsolete energy metering systems that improve energy efficiency by monitoring, storing, and transmitting real-time energy supply data from a business to a utility. Smart meters send digital data for utility services directly back to businesses for real-time monitoring and delivery data to the provider for resource management. Advanced metering technology can provide near-instant power, gas, and water outage alerts, as well as the amount of energy consumed and the associated cost of energy consumption across the United States.
• With easy-to-read screens that display real-time data for consumers and utilities to manage and monitor, smart energy meters keep track of the quality, quantity, and timing of energy use. Data is exchanged through secure wi-fi networks. Systems with smart meters can also provide analyses of the energy sources used, including the precise quantities of different energy sources used and calculated energy usage by particular appliances.
• Moreover, most utility companies in the United States will soon switch from traditional meters to smart meters. Utility companies and customers can offer lower prices during off-peak hours thanks to the detailed energy consumption data that smart energy meters give them.
• By significantly reducing the labor necessary to monitor energy use, smart meter technology saves utility money, enabling them to invest in smart grid development plans and other environmentally friendly technology. Smart meters eliminate anticipated bills by providing 100 percent accurate explanations of utility use, enabling businesses to better budget for utility costs.
• Moreover, The U.S. Energy Information Administration's (EIA) annual survey of electric power sales, revenue, and energy efficiency found that in 2020, 502 electric utilities had EE programs that contributed to an estimated decrease in total annual electricity consumption of about 28.2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh). About 47% of the total annual electricity savings from utility EE programs in 2020 came from residential customers, and 44% came from commercial customers.
• Also, in September 2022, Saint-Gobain installed a smart water meter system and upgraded equipment at its siding plant in Social Circle, Georgia, US, reducing the site's water consumption by more than two million gallons per year. The project is part of Saint-Gobain's global Grow and Impact strategy, which includes ambitious environmental sustainability goals like reducing the company's consumption of water and other natural resources at its manufacturing sites.

Competitive Landscape

The United States advanced metering infrastructure market is moderately fragmented. The development of integrated and IT-enabled power grids and other support software to analyze the patterns, the increase in the use of smart meters, water metering solutions, and digitalization initiatives across the country provide lucrative opportunities in the United States.

• March 2022 - Itron and Utilismart announced they have begun offering a turnkey metering and data solution to smaller utilities in the United States for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) rollout. The new service combines Utilismart's data and meter reading services with Itron's cellular meters to offer commercial and industrial customers interval consumption data, daily usage reports, and submetering solutions.
• August 2022 - The Texas city of Ovilla has chosen Smart Earth Technologies to supply advanced metering infrastructure. Because of SET's software leadership and a unique capability to deliver instant AMI without requiring creating and maintaining a proprietary network, the City's business case benefits are significantly accelerated.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support