About 16% of surveyed households with an installed smart electricity meter were not yet able to use it. The German Federation of Consumer Organisations (vzbv) published the online survey results and also called for a fixed compensation payment for devices that do not work or are only partly usable.
- In a survey of 937 households with an installed smart meter, 16% said they could not yet use it.
- Among households that could already use their meter, 29% waited more than four months for it to be commissioned.
- vzbv is calling for compensation; the publication does not report that such a scheme has been adopted.
What the survey found
The survey was conducted by eye square on behalf of vzbv from 20 to 28 July 2026. It included 937 households where a smart meter had already been installed. The publication gives a statistical margin of error of up to 3 percentage points for the full sample.
According to vzbv, 16% of respondents could not yet use the installed device. The organisation separately reports the waiting time among households that could already use their meter: 29% of that group waited more than four months for commissioning. These figures refer to different groups within the survey.
When a meter is considered operational
The vzbv publication says a smart meter is fully usable when it automatically transmits actual electricity consumption to suppliers and grid operators at 15-minute intervals. The organisation says that this enables consumers to use dynamic electricity tariffs and other functions of an intelligent metering system.
The call for compensation
vzbv is calling for a fixed compensation payment for households whose meters do not work after installation or can only be used partly. The organisation links its demand to the expectation that consumers should be able to use the meter’s functions after it has been installed.
The publication reports vzbv’s demand; it does not report that such a scheme has been adopted.
Information sources
- vzbv: Survey results on the use of installed smart meters and call for compensation Source publication date: 22 October 2026.