A Multiyear Study of Smart Meter Adoption: Empirical Evidence from the United Kingdom

For tackling climate change and energy security, IT enabled connected systems are regarded as one of the most fundamental infrastructures for managing energy demand in the market. As these systems require to be connected to consumers via smart meters, adoption of smart meter has drawn huge attention from policymakers and researchers. However, little research has been based on the real-world market outcomes and only relies on responses in a single time window. Using a rich dataset on smart meter adoption in the UK between 2012 and 2016, we examine the effects of behavioral and household attributes on adoption of smart meter. The findings suggest that environmental concerns are negatively associated with smart meter adoption in contrast to general sustainable innovations. We also find that the determinants of overall adoption and conditional adoption differ significantly, and the effects change as the product become prevalent. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed