Survey on smart metering: Landlords see great potential

Eschborn, March 4, 2025:  The majority of private landlords (86%) and business customers, i.e. commercial landlords or managers (94%), are convinced that  will accelerate the introduction of smart meters in Germany with the Act on the Restart of the Digitalization of the Energy Transition (GNDEW) and that the technology will have a major impact on the real estate industry (57% and 83 % respectively). These are the findings of a recent survey by energy service provider Techem.  

The most common reason given by both groups for installing smart meters in their properties was the simplified billing of ancillary costs thanks to precise consumption data (48% and 55% respectively), followed by the reduction in administrative costs (38% and 54% respectively). In third place was the fulfillment of sustainability goals (ESG) at 43% for commercial landlords and property managers, while for private landlords it was the improvement of the building's energy efficiency at 36%.   Gero Lücking, Head of Smart Metering at Techem: "Among landlords who have already installed smart metering systems in their properties, there is satis-faction particularly with regard to data accuracy, transparency of energy bills, reliability and user-friendliness."

Reluctance to expand smart meters

Nevertheless, the survey also shows that many landlords are still hesitant to install smart mete-ring systems in their properties. The main reasons cited for this reluctance by respondents wit-hout smart meter equipment were high costs (33% and 35% respectively) and a lack of infor-mation on the subject of smart metering (33% and 35% respectively). Only 8% of private customers and 25% of business customers reported that they were planning to (further) equip their property with smart meters in the next six months. Around a fifth (21%) of respondents (both private landlords and business customers) who had originally considered installing smart meters stated that they were postponing their plans to install a smart metering system until a new government was elected. The reluctance to install smart meters was particularly noticeab-le among private landlords, with just under half of respondents (47%) stating that they had no plans to install them.  

Smart building technologies particularly in demand among commercial landlords

The smart meter rollout plays a key role, particularly in the context of the shared building supp-ly (GGV). As part of this supply model, the electricity from a photovoltaic system installed on the building  is made available to the users of a property on a pro rata basis. By precisely recording the quantities generated and the quantities of electricity drawn by the participating tenants, intelligent metering systems create the conditions for the practical implementation of the shared building supply.

When participants were asked how familiar they were with this concept, the Techem survey revealed a clear discrepancy between private landlords and business customers. While just under half (47%) of commercial landlords and property managers stated that they were famili-ar with the option of shared building management, only 11% of private landlords made this statement. 58% of private landlords and 66% of business customers who were aware of the GGV concept were planning to implement this supply model within the next six months.

There were also clear differences between the two customer groups when it came to planning the installation of e-charging points and heat pumps in the next six months: In each case, 41% of business customers stated that they intended to install e-charging points and heat pumps in their properties in the next six months, while only 13% of private landlords said the same. 

"Techem is a competitive metering point operator and offers smart metering for electricity and gas across all sectors. Our digital meter infrastructure creates the basis for transparency, ESG reporting and optimized energy efficiency in buildings. This enables daily consumption analy-ses, the conclusion of dynamic electricity tariffs and integration into digital business models. With all energy-relevant data from a single source, property owners will be able to make effi-cient data-based decisions for a sustainable energy supply," concludes Gero Lücking.   

Background

Households with an electricity consumption of more than 6,000 kWh/year are obliged to use a smart meter. Operators of a photovoltaic system with  output of between seven and 100 kW and owners of controllable consumption equipment - including heat pumps, e-charging stations or stationary battery storage units in conjunction with PV systems - must also have a smart metering system installed. This legal requirement is intended to increase the transparency of energy generation and consumption, make the systems controllable in the long term and thus facilitate the integration of renewable energies

Image information: A smart meter or intelligent metering system (visible in the center of the picture) consists of a digital electricity meter - also known as a "modern metering device" - and a communication unit - also known as a “smart meter gateway”. (Copyright: Oliver Roesler / Techem)

About the survey

This survey was conducted online in January 2025. A quantitative survey was used to ask 400 private landlords and 88 business customers (commercial landlords and administrators) about their attitudes towards smart metering, the GNDEW and the principle of shared building supply and associated technologies.Both the population of private landlords and business customers were defined according to specific criteria.