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During her CeBIT tour, Chancellor Angela Merkel had the future of electricity meters and smart grids explained to her at the Deutsche Telekom stand.

Chancellor Angela Merkel was particularly interested in smart metering and smart grids at the Deutsche Telekom stand, remarking, “this is a very important and interesting project for Germany.“

Deutsche Telekom showcased a complete solution for the energy market at CeBIT. The “Smart metering & home management” application reads, processes and presents consumption data for electricity, gas or water online. It ensures that energy providers and meter operators fulfill all statutory obligations in place with effect from December 30, 2010. The solution enables them to offer and charge usage-based rates. At the same time, the solution reduces costs by remote reading and enhances data quality.

The digital meters will transmit the consumption data by wireless or DSLDSL

Digital Subscriber Line. A technology that provides mainly domestic users and small businesses with greater transmission bandwidths via conventional copper-wire telephone lines. See also ADSL.

to the energy supply companies. A type of software will process the information and make it available to the end customer via a personalized Internet portal – as often as every 15 minutes if requested. “The customer will always be able to keep an eye on their consumption and be able to influence it accordingly.” Experts estimate that up to 15 percent can be saved on electricity bills in this way.

The solution is targeted not only at energy providers, but also at operators and service providers for metering points, facility management, retail outlets and the housing sector. The modular concept can be geared towards the needs of the different companies and their customer groups. Predefined interfaces guarantee simple integration into existing systems. Deutsche Telekom has already supplied the application to around 700 households in the T-City Friedrichshafen. The Chancellor announced at CeBIT that she would like to take another look at the project once 3,000 customers are connected up.

Smart grid – the energy network of the future

Recording electricity consumption with smart meters is the basis for introducing smart grids. In these grids, surplus production capacities are to be put to better use in the future so that consumers save money and the environment is spared thanks to lower CO2 emissions.