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Power lines in Brandenburg
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The Ministry of Economics wants to significantly accelerate the installation of intelligent electricity meters - so-called smart meters - in households and businesses.
"The smart meter rollout has not yet reached the pace required for the energy transition," according to a draft law by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
According to the draft, bureaucratic hurdles should be removed and devices that are already available should be used in order to promote installation by the suppliers.
The costs for the consumer should be capped at 20 euros per year.
The suppliers would have to contribute to the costs of the devices.
At the same time, from 2026 all suppliers must offer their customers so-called dynamic electricity tariffs.
This means that electricity is cheaper at certain times, such as at night, and more expensive at other times.
The prerequisite for this, in turn, are the intelligent meters.
The rollout of smart meters has been causing trouble for 15 years now.
The federal government has been working on a corresponding infrastructure since 2007.
But according to many experts, their approach is downright grotesque.
While Norway or France simply developed the prototype of a smart meter with specialists and then had it built in series, German officials muddled together a more than thousand-page technical guideline (TR) that hardly any manufacturer can implement properly.
The devices built so far are prone to failure and difficult to compatible with other technology because of the mass and the level of detail of the specifications.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs now wants to change that.
On the one hand, there is now new technology, it is said.
On the other hand, the law should remove legal hurdles and make it easier for manufacturers to enter the market.
The bottom line is that citizens would save money with the regulations, the draft goes on to say.
The costs, which were limited to 20 euros, paid off: “This is countered by the additional potential for income from intelligent measuring systems, which has been significantly increased as a result of the amendment.
Due to the increased electricity prices, such savings in consumption through intelligent metering systems can be greater than before.«
Households can use the meters to monitor their consumption more precisely and also identify power guzzlers.
At the same time, with the appropriate electricity tariffs, they can charge their e-cars at night, for example, when electricity is cheaper.
This should also help the energy transition.
Because if the Federal Republic of Germany will soon cover its electricity requirements primarily from fluctuating energy sources, it will have to consume more electricity when there is wind and sunshine and less on windless, rainy days.
Smart meters should help to manage this intelligently.
ssu/Reuters
