Smart meter rollout with manageable progress

24.10.2025

Source: E & M powernews

The rollout of smart metering systems is progressing. However, the current figures, which relate to the second quarter of 2025, still indicate a relatively slow pace.

Since July 1, 2024, the Federal Network Agency has been collecting data on the status of the rollout of smart metering systems on a quarterly basis. Even though the rollout has picked up speed, the current figures, which relate to the second quarter with a cut-off date of June 30, 2025, show that smaller metering point operators with basic responsibility in particular still have a lot of work to do before the end of the year.

According to the Federal Network Agency, which has data from a total of 810 metering point operators with basic responsibility, the 597 companies with fewer than 30,000 metering locations have only completed an average of 5.2% of their respective mandatory installation cases, compared to an average of 4.6% as of March 31, 2025. For the 128 metering point operators with 30,000 to 100,000 metering locations, the installation rate averaged 7.8% (first quarter: 7.5), while the 67 metering point operators with between 100,000 and 500,000 metering points achieved 11.8% (first quarter: 10.8).

The Federal Network Agency expressly points out that individual small metering point operators have significantly higher rates. However, the current survey confirms the findings of previous surveys that the large metering point operators are generally making faster progress in processing their mandatory installation cases than the small ones. For example, the 18 metering point operators with more than 500,000 metering locations have an average mandatory installation rate of 22.1%.

Mandatory rollout rate at 16.4 percent overall

The database for the mandatory installation cases refers to legally defined installation groups with an annual consumption of between 6,000 and 100,000 kWh as well as consumption devices that are controlled on the basis of Section 14a EnWG and are therefore equipped with a smart metering system.
All of these together add up to 4,634,605 mandatory installations. According to the Federal Network Agency, exactly 759,802 of these smart metering systems had been installed by all metering point operators with basic responsibility as of June 30, 2025. This corresponds to a nationwide installation rate of 16.4 percent.

If we take all 54,275,109 metering locations in Germany as a basis, i.e. including those that do not have to be equipped with a smart metering system due to legal requirements, the equipment rate is 3.0%. The absolute figure behind this is 1.6 million smart metering systems.

The equipment rate is relevant because the metering point operators with basic responsibility must have completed at least 20 percent of their respective mandatory installations by December 31 of this year in accordance with Section 45 (1) No. 4 MsbG.

Last summer, the Federal Network Agency stated at E&M's request that it was monitoring compliance with the mandatory installation quotas very closely and had "strict supervisory powers". For example, the imposition of a penalty payment is a possible measure to persuade companies to comply with the law.
However, it should be noted that the number of mandatory installation cases is not a static figure, but changes with the increasing electrification of the heating and transport sectors, among other things. For example, the total number of mandatory installations at the end of the first quarter was 4,636,895 and the number of smart metering systems installed was 700,624.

Author: Fritz Wilhelm