E.ON first energy company to reach one million smart meters in Germany

Energy company E.ON has become the first in Germany to reach the milestone of one million installed smart meters. 

The millionth intelligent metering system was installed by the regional E.ON subsidiary LEW Verteilnetz (LVN) at a customer near Augsburg. 

With an average rollout rate of around 30% by the end of 2025, E.ON says they are among the frontrunners in the mandatory rollout. In the coming years, around 500,000 additional intelligent metering systems are to be rolled out annually.

Commenting in a release was Thomas König, Member of the E.ON Board of Management responsible for Energy Networks: “One million installed smart meters are a clear mandate for the future. 

“We will continue to drive the rollout forward, focusing on areas where smart meters create the greatest value: heat pumps, charging infrastructure, battery storage systems, photovoltaic installations and other flexible consumers. At the same time, it is clear that the smart meter rollout in Germany urgently needs to be simplified and accelerated – for the benefit of the grid and our customers.”

Germany continues to fall short

For E.ON, the smart meter milestone underscores their leading role in the smart meter rollout, and they say it signals the digitalisation of Germany’s distribution grid. However, E.ON is arguably more an exception than an example. 

Compared with other countries, there is still considerable ground to make up: with a share of just 3.8%, Germany has the lowest proportion of intelligent metering systems in Europe and is well below the European average of over 60%. 

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For example, in Sweden—where E.ON also has a key presence in driving the smart meter rollout—the second-generation smart meter rollout has already been completed almost nationwide. 

In January, German newspaper Handelblatt reported 85% of German metering point operators are failing to meet legally mandated smart meter quotas, which could prove costly for the responsible companies.

According to Handelblatt, an online portal from the country’s Federal Network Agency highlights how far Germany lags behind in the digital infrastructure for the energy transition.

Specifically, metering point operators were required to equip at least 20% of households in their area subject to mandatory installation with smart meters by the end of 2025. However, of the 814 companies responsible nationwide, 688 have not yet reached this threshold. 

Rising interest

All this isn’t to say, though, that there isn’t a market for smart meters. In fact, according to an October 2025 survey on consumer interest in smart metering, it’s quite the contrary.

The survey, commissioned by the digital association Bitkom among 1,003 people in Germany, found that 75% of those surveyed want to use smart meters.

This is in contrast with the start of the smart meter market launch in January 2020, when only 36% of people in Germany were open to the technology; by 2022, this figure had risen to 57%. 

Bitkom CEO Dr Bernhard Rohleder commented on the rising interest: “Smart meters are a crucial component of the energy transition. They create transparency in electricity consumption and enable more efficient energy use. To reach their full potential, they require a rapid and nationwide rollout.”

Also on the business front, it appears the country is gaining more attraction for metering opportunities.

A month before E.ON’s one million milestone, Octopus Energy Generation announced €40 million for a Berlin-based smart metering point operator, metiundo.

The series A funding is planned to enable the metiundo to scale the rollout of its smart metering system with the further development of its proprietary software platform. 

This will include expansion of the installation and assembly team, with the recruitment of specialists, particularly for software development, installation and operations.

To date, metiundo, which specialises in the broader building sector with more complex metering set-ups and multi-utility energy management since 2021, has over 21,000 smart meters installed.

Dennis Nasrun, Co-Founder and CEO of metiundo, said at the time that the metering market is so dynamic because competitive metering point operators are driving implementation. 

“From the outset, we have consistently invested in our own software, achieving a level of quality and flexibility in our platform that sets us apart from the competition. With this new funding, we are now decisively moving towards further scaling: more installations, higher quality, and even greater speed in expanding our platform.”