Reading your electricity meter

An electricity meter can be installed in a variety of places.

1. Apartment/flat/business premises
   In an apartment, house or business premises, the meter is always installed in a meter cupboard or on a meter board with the fuses.
2. In a stairwell
   The meter is installed in a meter cupboard with a viewing panel in the stairwell next to your apartment.
3. Central (basement) space
   The meter for your apartment and/or business premises is installed in a central location along with the other meters for the building. In general, the local information for your apartment ist noted on the location of the meter.

In the case of electromechanical meters, the meter number can be found on the device window.

In the case of electronic meters, you can find the meter number on the casing at the shield. The meter number is also known as a property number on most of the models and may have been extended to include a barcode.

For your Information we compiled a picture gallery with meter numbers at the bottom of this page.

The reading card number can be found at the self-reading letter top left below the data of the withdrawal point.

You can read the meter status directly from your electricity meter.

In the case of an electromechanical (Ferraris) meter, there will be a roller counter behind the viewing panel. Only the figures before the comma are relevant when recording the meter status. You must read both counters when looking at meters with tariff switching.

When using an electronic meter , you can take a meter reading from the first line in the display. The meter reading is always displayed along with the associated OBIS number with kWh behind. If the meter includes tariff switching or is also measuring energy feed in (e.g. if a photovoltaic panel is installed), the relevant meter statuses will be displayed alternately.

OBIS is an abbreviation of Object Identification System. The OBIS number is used as a unique identifier for measurement values (e.g. amount of electricity, meter status) and also for other data, to facilitate the electronic exchange of data between grid operators and energy suppliers.

The following OBIS numbers are relevant in most cases:

1.8.0
Meter status and/or work measured in kWh without tariff switching for the energy consumed

1.8.1
Meter status and/or work measured in kWh with tariff switching (high tariff) for the energy consumed

1.8.2
Meter status and/or work measured in kWh with tariff switching (low tariff) for the energy consumed

2.8.0
Meter status and/or work measured in kWh without tariff switching for the energy supplied (feed in)

If we not receive a meter reading, we have to calculate your consumption respectively meter-reading for the grid use (power supply) according to legal regulations on the base of your previous year consumption.

Under the Energy Industry Act (Energiewirtschaftsgesetz - EnWG) and the Measurement Point Operations Act (Messstellenbetriebsgesetz - MsbG), we are responsible for providing meters and for reading them, regardless of which energy supplier you are with. The use of our grid and the meter forms part of your energy supplier contract.

There is also a contractual relationship between us and your energy supplier which regulates, among other things, the use of our distribution grid to supply their customers with electricity at clearly defined withdrawal points. A meter reading is necessary for the customers involved in order to calculate grid usage.

We are permitted to determine the time of the reading in order to guarantee that grid operation is as economically viable as possible.

On this basis, we are responsible for providing meter readings to the energy supplier for each withdrawal point.

We will inform you of the upcoming meter reading by putting a leaflet on your door or in your postbox.

This notification will take place at least one week before the meter reading appointment.

We may commission service providers to take readings on site.

The meter reading taken by us or provided by you will be used to calculate the use of our energy distribution grid with your energy supplier. When calculating grid usage we notify your energy supplier of the meter reading that we have documented.

This makes the meter reading available to your energy supplier and they will usually use the reading when invoicing for energy supply, i.e. for settling your contract.

If you notified your energy supplier of your meter reading after we notified you of the reading appointment, we may send you our self-reading card anyway. This situation would occur if your energy supplier has not informed us of your meter reading or has only provided the information after the self-reading card has already been sent.

• Your energy supplier is not obliged to forward your meter reading to us. Some energy suppliers do send us the results of the reading, which we will then keep on our records.
• There is also no obligation for us to ask the energy supplier for the results of meter readings.

This can give the impression that the energy supplier and the grid operator are not coordinated.

Please note that the supplier is also able to read your meter under the energy supplier agreement.