Smart meters form the secure and standardised technical basis for a large number of applications in the fields of grid operation, electricity market, energy efficiency and the smart home. These are in particular:

• Transparent consumption
• No need to visit consumers to read their electricity meters
• Possibility of variable tariffs
• Provision of information from distributed generators and flexible demand which helps the grid
• Steering of distributed generators and flexible demand
• Combining of different forms of energy, i.e. simultaneous metering and transparency also for gas, heating and district heat
• Secure, standardised infrastructure for “smart home” applications