Habeck draft: Smart meters should initially be mandatory for fewer households

For years, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck (Greens) pressed the accelerator pedal when it came to the ramp-up of smart electricity meters. In 2022 , he even introduced a "new departure law" to this end. This makes a draft bill for an amendment to the Energy Industry Act all the more surprising, according to which the state wants to put the brakes on at least the roll-out of smart meter gateways (SMGWs) for smaller electricity consumers. To give priority to cases that are particularly relevant for "resilient system operation", the roll-out of digital metering technology in other areas must be carried out at a slower pace, according to the explanatory memorandum in the draft available online at heise. This is necessary considering the "limited capacities for the installation and IT operation" of SMGWs.

Specifically, the basic components for smart electricity meters will no longer be mandatory for end consumers with an annual electricity consumption of up to 10,000 kilowatt-hours, the Ministry of Economic Affairs explains in the paper from mid-October. In the future, such households would have to be equipped by the responsible metering point operator "only as optional installation cases". This would mean that they could often refuse an upgrade to an SMGW, even against the wishes of an electricity consumer. The department explains: The pure smart meter roll-out should be further developed into a ramp-up for an entire intelligent network ("smart grid") by integrating the option of "controllability of energy transition plants, i.e. smaller generation plants and controllable consumption facilities", in which Germany is lagging.

"With the encouraging increase in the share of renewable energies in electricity generation, load flexibility and the controllability of generation plants at peak times are increasingly becoming a decisive factor for system security," explains the ministry. Experts are forecasting up to 36 GW of simultaneous peak load for controllable low-voltage consumer devices by 2032, which will be offset by an expected output of around 63 GW on the generation side. This makes it clear that "the digitalization of the energy transition is indispensable for economically and operationally resilient system operation, especially in times of temporary generation surpluses". Accordingly, SMGWs must initially be used on a mandatory basis, especially where they are necessary for the controllability of generation plants.

Full stop for smart meters?

The German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (ZVEI) has criticized the plan and is calling for the planned roll-out of smart meters to be maintained on the occasion of the "Connected Home of the Future" summit taking place in Berlin on Tuesday at the invitation of the German government: "The building is the hub of the energy transition," emphasizes Wolfgang Weber from the management board of the electrical engineering association "Up to 65 percent of primary energy could be saved" through an optimal interplay of innovative technologies and solutions – from photovoltaic systems and heat pumps to storage systems and wallboxes to energy management systems and SMGWs –. However, the prerequisite for this is that technologies for smart consumption control are used more consistently.

In this context, Weber is "surprised" by the proposed amendment to the Metering Point Operation Act as part of the reform of energy industry law. Instead of seizing the opportunity to support the ramp-up of smart metering systems, the plan is causing "massive uncertainty in the industry". Smart meter manufacturers have "adjusted to the legally regulated quantity and expanded their production capacities accordingly", the ZVEI representative points out. Should the changes come into force, these investments would be "put to the test". For the nationwide rollout, this would also be "tantamount to a full stop". Electricity providers such as Tibber or Octopus Energy, which rely on flexible tariffs and the smart meters required for this, are also against the plan.

(vbr)