1001 Smart Cities
🇺🇾 Montevideo

UTE Smart Electricity Meters in Montevideo Homes

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 13 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

13 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

Uruguay put a smart meter in almost every home, Montevideo's included. The gain UTE can count is in billing: estimated bills fell from 10% to 0.28% between 2018 and 2025.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🏛️ Official
what does this mean?The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byUTE (Administración Nacional de Usinas y Trasmisiones Eléctricas), Uruguay's state-owned electricity utility, with the state telecom company Antel as partner
Scale🌍 National
FundingProcured by UTE, the state-owned utility; the first tender, in 2016, bought 100,000 meters from Isbel. The programme's total cost is not stated in the sources found.

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,247 documented projects · 🏙️ 10 more in Montevideo · 🔌 Smart grid & energy guide · ⚡ Energy projects

UTE, Uruguay's state-owned electricity utility, started its smart-meter programme in 2016 with a first tender for 100,000 meters, awarded to Isbel, and began fitting them in all households at the end of 2019. The millionth meter was installed in March 2023 in a house in Montevideo's Malvín neighbourhood, at a ceremony with Antel and the industry ministry, who said the system then reached two thirds of Uruguay's households. The meters send consumption to UTE's computer centre in 15-minute intervals and let the utility change tariffs, reconnect and cut supply remotely. In April 2026 UTE put national coverage close to 100%, with a little over 3,000 meters left to install, and said about 390,000 customers had signed up to its time-of-use Plan Inteligente.

Live 📅 since 2016

📊 Impact

UTE says its studies show the share of bills based on estimated readings fell from 10% to 0.28% between 2018 and 2025, and billing complaints fell from 12,704 in 2018 to 3,189 in 2025. It also reports that reconnections now take 15 minutes instead of 9 hours and that non-technical losses (electricity theft) fell from 18% to 13%.

🎓 Lesson

A utility can measure what a meter does to its own billing, and here those results are stated against a 2018 baseline. What the meters do to how households use power is not yet measured: the saving of up to 20% on the time-of-use plan is UTE's estimate, not an evaluated result.

⚡ EnergySmart grid & energySensors & IoTConnectivity & 5G

Sources

↗ Presidencia de la República — UTE alcanzó 1.700.000 hogares con medidores inteligentes (7 Apr 2026)Government news item on UTE's press conference: national coverage close to 100% with a little over 3,000 meters left; according to UTE's studies, estimated readings fell 97.2% between 2018 and 2025 (from 10% of bills to 0.28%), billing complaints fell from 12,704 in 2018 to 3,189 in 2025, reconnections went from 9 hours to 15 minutes, non-technical losses fell from 18% to 13%, 80% of field work is done remotely, and about 390,000 customers use the Plan Inteligente. It describes 15-minute reporting and remote tariff changes, reconnections and cuts, and says the project began in 2016 with a first tender for 100,000 meters awarded to Isbel.
↗ Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Minería — Uruguay inauguró su medidor inteligente un millón (17 Mar 2023)Ministry news item: UTE, Antel and the industry ministry inaugurated the millionth smart meter in a house in Montevideo's Malvín neighbourhood on 17 March, which they said reached two thirds of Uruguay's households, with all to be covered by the end of 2024.
↗ El Observador — UTE avanza en la medición inteligente y se abre la puerta a nuevas tarifas (29 Feb 2024)Reports that UTE began installing smart meters in all households at the end of 2019, that 80% of customers (about 1.3 million services) had them, that about 270,000 customers had two- or three-band residential tariffs, and describes the 15-minute reporting and remote functions.
↗ Montevideo Portal — UTE y la tarifa inteligente que puede implicar ahorros de hasta 20% para los hogares (22 Dec 2023)Reports UTE's push for its Plan Inteligente, with 280,000 users, and UTE's estimate that many customers who choose it could pay up to 20% less; the outlet's own tests of UTE's simulator gave yearly savings of 1,000 to 5,000 pesos.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2016. 4 of 4 sources carry a publication date, from 17 March 2023 to 7 April 2026.

When the sources were published

  1. Agencia de Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento (AGESIC) · national governmentMinisterio de Industria, Energía y Minería — Uruguay inauguró su medidor inteligente un millón (17 Mar 2023)
  2. Montevideo Portal · pressMontevideo Portal — UTE y la tarifa inteligente que puede implicar ahorros de hasta 20% para los hogares (22 Dec 2023)
  3. El Observador · pressEl Observador — UTE avanza en la medición inteligente y se abre la puerta a nuevas tarifas (29 Feb 2024)
  4. Agencia de Gobierno Electrónico y Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento (AGESIC) · national governmentPresidencia de la República — UTE alcanzó 1.700.000 hogares con medidores inteligentes (7 Apr 2026)

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Entered the record
  2. Sources last read

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 13 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence file · public beta 13 addressable claims, 4 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The file is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 13

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-79011538d1cdc2e3 quantitative
started its smart-meter programme in 2016 with a first tender for 100,000 meters, awarded to Isbel
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The Presidency's item says the project began in 2016 with the first tender for 100,000 smart meters, and that Isbel was the winning company.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Presidencia de la República — UTE alcanzó 1.700.000 hogares con medidores inteligentes (7 Apr 2026)
Claim 2 clm-1d3e884ab0346022 quantitative
began fitting them in all households at the end of 2019
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
El Observador says UTE began installing the devices in all the country's households towards the end of 2019.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. El Observador — UTE avanza en la medición inteligente y se abre la puerta a nuevas tarifas (29 Feb 2024)
Claim 3 clm-4823954561b01102 quantitative
The millionth meter was installed in March 2023 in a house in Montevideo's Malvín neighbourhood
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The ministry says UTE, Antel and the industry ministry inaugurated the millionth smart meter in a house in Malvín, Montevideo, on 17 March.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Minería — Uruguay inauguró su medidor inteligente un millón (17 Mar 2023)
Claim 4 clm-f5e5ad8e9a092069 descriptive
who said the system then reached two thirds of Uruguay's households
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The ministry says the million meters reached two thirds of the country's households.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Minería — Uruguay inauguró su medidor inteligente un millón (17 Mar 2023)
Claim 5 clm-2700c9f1c6adadd0 quantitative
The meters send consumption to UTE's computer centre in 15-minute intervals and let the utility change tariffs, reconnect and cut supply remotely
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The Presidency's item says the system records consumption to UTE's computer centre in 15-minute intervals and allows tariff changes, reconnections and cuts to be made remotely.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Presidencia de la República — UTE alcanzó 1.700.000 hogares con medidores inteligentes (7 Apr 2026)
Claim 6 clm-7da229055501d421 quantitative
In April 2026 UTE put national coverage close to 100%, with a little over 3,000 meters left to install
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The Presidency's item of 7 April 2026 says coverage is close to 100% nationally and that a little over 3,000 smart meters remain to be installed.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Presidencia de la República — UTE alcanzó 1.700.000 hogares con medidores inteligentes (7 Apr 2026)
Claim 8 clm-e7dcc30683860746 quantitative
the share of bills based on estimated readings fell from 10% to 0.28% between 2018 and 2025
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The item says, according to UTE's studies, estimated readings fell 97.2% between 2018 and 2025, from 10% of all bills to 0.28%.
Caveat
These are UTE's own figures; no independent audit of them was found.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Presidencia de la República — UTE alcanzó 1.700.000 hogares con medidores inteligentes (7 Apr 2026)
Claim 11 clm-0ec1ce51ef3666ea quantitative
non-technical losses (electricity theft) fell from 18% to 13%
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
The item says non-technical losses (electricity theft) fell from 18% to 13%.
Caveat
The item gives no period for this figure and does not attribute the change to the meters alone.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Presidencia de la República — UTE alcanzó 1.700.000 hogares con medidores inteligentes (7 Apr 2026)
Claim 13 clm-58719686047e59a4 quantitative
the saving of up to 20% on the time-of-use plan is UTE's estimate, not an evaluated result
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this file
What the mapping says
Montevideo Portal reports UTE's estimate that many Plan Inteligente customers could pay up to 20% less; the Presidency's item says the plan allows saving up to 20%. Neither gives a measured saving.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Montevideo Portal — UTE y la tarifa inteligente que puede implicar ahorros de hasta 20% para los hogares (22 Dec 2023)
  2. Presidencia de la República — UTE alcanzó 1.700.000 hogares con medidores inteligentes (7 Apr 2026)
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-11-07-baseline effective 2026-11-07 · created 2026-11-07

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:2e32d302a45338e7d7aae17f0fe0d702e853d2c5503e38677655b77bf28c687d
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
13
of 13 claims mapped
4
source dossiers
4
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
UTE (Administración Nacional de Usinas y Trasmisiones Eléctricas), Uruguay's state-owned electricity utility, with the state telecom company Antel as partner
Actor types
utility, national-government
Funding model
utility
Funding description
Procured by UTE, the state-owned utility; the first tender, in 2016, bought 100,000 meters from Isbel. The programme's total cost is not stated in the sources found.
Cost
Not recorded
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

4 source dossiers

Presidencia de la República — UTE alcanzó 1.700.000 hogares con medidores inteligentes (7 Apr 2026) gub.uy · 10 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-93b4353b63ffa8e4
Publisher
Name not classified · gub.uy
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-04-07
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-11-07
Dossier created
2026-11-07
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Government news item on UTE's press conference: national coverage close to 100% with a little over 3,000 meters left; according to UTE's studies, estimated readings fell 97.2% between 2018 and 2025 (from 10% of bills to 0.28%), billing complaints fell from 12,704 in 2018 to 3,189 in 2025, reconnections went from 9 hours to 15 minutes, non-technical losses fell from 18% to 13%, 80% of field work is done remotely, and about 390,000 customers use the Plan Inteligente. It describes 15-minute reporting and remote tariff changes, reconnections and cuts, and says the project began in 2016 with a first tender for 100,000 meters awarded to Isbel.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Minería — Uruguay inauguró su medidor inteligente un millón (17 Mar 2023) gub.uy · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-92d9acf29f10b456
Publisher
Name not classified · gub.uy
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2023-03-17
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-11-07
Dossier created
2026-11-07
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Ministry news item: UTE, Antel and the industry ministry inaugurated the millionth smart meter in a house in Montevideo's Malvín neighbourhood on 17 March, which they said reached two thirds of Uruguay's households, with all to be covered by the end of 2024.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
El Observador — UTE avanza en la medición inteligente y se abre la puerta a nuevas tarifas (29 Feb 2024) elobservador.com.uy · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-17fe95fbe6035330
Publisher
Name not classified · elobservador.com.uy
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2024-02-29
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-11-07
Dossier created
2026-11-07
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Reports that UTE began installing smart meters in all households at the end of 2019, that 80% of customers (about 1.3 million services) had them, that about 270,000 customers had two- or three-band residential tariffs, and describes the 15-minute reporting and remote functions.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Montevideo Portal — UTE y la tarifa inteligente que puede implicar ahorros de hasta 20% para los hogares (22 Dec 2023) montevideo.com.uy · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-8aa6912951de6be9
Publisher
Name not classified · montevideo.com.uy
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2023-12-22
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-11-07
Dossier created
2026-11-07
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Reports UTE's push for its Plan Inteligente, with 280,000 users, and UTE's estimate that many customers who choose it could pay up to 20% less; the outlet's own tests of UTE's simulator gave yearly savings of 1,000 to 5,000 pesos.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this file
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

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🇳🇿 Vector: Auckland's Trust-Owned Power Network and the Smart Meters It Does Not Own · Auckland UTE, a state utility, fits and reads its own meters; Vector reads its customers' meters only through others' contracts.

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📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “UTE Smart Electricity Meters in Montevideo Homes” — Montevideo, Uruguay. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/montevideo-ute-smart-meters/ (last verified 2026-11-07). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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