Smart Utilities Global Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2034

This report describes and explains the smart utilities market and covers 2019-2024, termed the historic period, and 2024-2029, 2034F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global smart utilities market reached a value of nearly $46.64 billion in 2024, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.89% since 2019. The market is expected to grow from $46.64 billion in 2024 to $86.29 billion in 2029 at a rate of 13.10%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.78% from 2029 and reach $157.46 billion in 2034.

Growth in the historic period resulted from increasing electricity demand, growing investment in grid automation, favorable government incentives and growing integration of energy storage systems. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period were high capital investment requirement and cybersecurity risks.

Going forward, expanding deployment of smart meters, increasing development of smart grids and microgrids, rise in digitalization and IoT adoption in energy sector and adoption of renewable energy and distributed generation will drive the growth. Factors that could hinder the growth of the smart utilities market in the future include integration challenges with legacy systems, regulatory and policy uncertainty and impact of trade war and tariff.

North America was the largest region in the smart utilities market, accounting for 35.64% or $16.62 billion of the total in 2024. It was followed by Asia Pacific, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the smart utilities market will be Asia Pacific and Middle East where growth will be at CAGRs of 16.51% and 14.58% respectively. These will be followed by Africa and Eastern Europe where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 13.32% and 13.17% respectively.

The global smart utilities market is fairly concentrated, with large players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 35.77% of the total market in 2024. Schneider Electric SE was the largest competitor with a 10.81% share of the market, followed by Siemens AG with 4.96%, GE Vernova with 3.89%, ABB Ltd with 3.13%, Itron Inc with 2.83%, Oracle Corporation with 2.27%, Landis+Gyr AG with 2.22%, Accenture plc with 1.94%, Eaton Corporation plc with 1.90% and Enel X with 1.83%.

The smart utilities market is segmented by component into hardware, software and services. The software market was the largest segment of the smart utilities market segmented by component, accounting for 52.61% or $24.53 billion of the total in 2024. Going forward, the services segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the smart utilities market segmented by component, at a CAGR of 17.04% during 2024-2029.

The smart utilities market is segmented by communication technology into wired and wired-less. The wired-less market was the largest segment of the smart utilities market segmented by communication technology, accounting for 85.33% or $39.8 billion of the total in 2024. Going forward, the wired-less segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the smart utilities market segmented by communication technology, at a CAGR of 14.37% during 2024-2029.

The smart utilities market is segmented by application into meter hardware, communications and networking, power quality equipment and technologies. The meter hardware market was the largest segment of the smart utilities market segmented by application, accounting for 32.11% or $14.97 billion of the total in 2024. Going forward, the technologies segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the smart utilities market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 18.35% during 2024-2029.

The top opportunities in the smart utilities market segmented by component will arise in the software segment, which will gain $20.72 billion of global annual sales by 2029. The top opportunities in the smart utilities market segmented by communication technology will arise in the wired-less segment, which will gain $38.08 billion of global annual sales by 2029. The top opportunities in the smart utilities market segmented by application will arise in the technologies segment, which will gain $12.15 billion of global annual sales by 2029. The smart utilities market size will gain the most in the USA at $9.95 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for the smart utilities market include focus on strategic partnerships driving innovation and market expansion in smart utilities, focus on adoption of intelligent home energy management solutions to drive smart utilities market, focus on adoption of edge computing for real-time energy management, focus on rise of metering-as-a-service (MaaS) models to accelerate utility modernization and cost efficiency, focus on digitalization and automation of grid management driving enhanced reliability and flexibility, focus on advanced smart water management powered by IoT and analytics enhancing conservation and efficiency, focus on integration of renewable energy and distributed energy resources, focus on adoption of data fabric and integrated grid orchestration for smarter, resilient energy systems and focus on expansion of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and smart grids.

Player-adopted strategies in the smart utilities market include focus on expanding business capabilities through strategic partnerships to expand operational capabilities and focus on expanding business capabilities through new launches.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the smart utilities market companies to focus on integrated home energy optimization, focus on expanding edge intelligence and real-time grid capabilities, focus on expanding metering as a service models, focus on accelerating digital grid automation and intelligence, focus on scaling advanced smart water management solutions, focus on distributed energy resource integration, focus on building integrated data fabric and grid orchestration platforms, focus on scaling advanced metering and smart grid deployments, focus on accelerating growth in the services segment, focus on expanding wired-less communication solutions, expand in emerging markets, focus on strategic partnerships to scale smart utility solutions, focus on expanding integrated distribution access and reach, focus on transparent pricing models and value-linked tariffs, strengthen awareness and trust through educational outreach and transparent communication, drive adoption with targeted incentives and personalized engagement programs and focus on accelerating growth in advanced technologies.