Smart Meter Switzerland 2026:
Mandate, Rollout Status &
Cost Explained
By end of 2027, 80% of all Swiss electricity meters must be replaced with smart meters — a statutory obligation under StromVV Art. 31e. Where we stand in 2026, what it means at BKW, EKZ and other grid operators, who pays for it, and why it's the technical foundation of every LEG membership.
The 60-second overview
- A smart meter is a digital electricity meter that records consumption in 15-minute intervals and transmits the data securely to your grid operator. Defined in StromVV Art. 8a.
- Mandatory since 1 January 2018. By end of 2027, at least 80% of meters in every grid area must comply (StromVV Art. 31e).
- As of summer 2025, Switzerland was at roughly 50% coverage nationally — with large regional differences (BFE).
- The grid operator pays for installation (~CHF 250 per device). You only pay the ongoing metering fee — disclosed separately on your bill since January 2026 (StromVG Art. 17a).
- Required for LEG membership. No 15-minute measurement, no local electricity community billing.
Where to find your meter number
Whether you're registering for an Upgrid LEG, opening a customer portal, or following up on a billing question, you'll be asked for one of two identifiers from your electricity setup: the meter number (Zählernummer — a short serial, typically 6–10 digits) or the metering point ID (Messpunkt-ID — the long one starting with CH). Both appear on every Swiss electricity bill.
Quick rule of thumb: Upgrid asks for the Messpunkt-ID (the CH-prefixed one). Customer portals and billing queries usually take the shorter Zählernummer. When in doubt, copy both.
Three places to find them:
Below is what the meter-information block looks like on a typical Swiss electricity bill since 2026:
Electricity supply
Anna Müller
Beispielstrasse 12
3000 Bern
No. 2026-074-3812
Date: 15 Oct 2026
Period: 01 Jul – 30 Sep 2026
| Meter number (Zählernummer) | 87654321 |
| Metering point ID (Messpunkt-ID) | CH1009002000000000000000087654321 ← what Upgrid needs |
| Meter type | Smart meter |
| Installed since | 14 Mar 2025 |
| Position | Quantity | Tariff | CHF |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy — high tariff (HT) | 820 kWh | 11.50 Rp./kWh | 94.30 |
| Energy — low tariff (NT) | 320 kWh | 9.00 Rp./kWh | 28.80 |
| Grid usage (Netznutzung) | 1140 kWh | 10.80 Rp./kWh | 123.12 |
| Metering fee (Messtarif) — separate since 2026 | 3 months | — | 18.60 |
| Federal levies + KEV | 1140 kWh | 2.30 Rp./kWh | 26.22 |
| VAT 8.1% | — | — | 23.57 |
| Total | CHF 314.61 | ||
Don't confuse the two. The meter number (Zählernummer) is the serial of the physical device — it changes if you get a new meter. The metering point ID (Messpunkt-ID) is the permanent 33-character identifier of your connection, starting with CH — it stays the same for the lifetime of the building, following the SDAT-CH standard used by all Swiss grid operators.
For Upgrid LEG registration, the Messpunkt-ID is what we need — the long one with the CH prefix. It points to your connection independently of any meter swap, so we always know exactly which household we're enrolling.
What is a smart meter?
A smart meter (in German: intelligenter Stromzähler or intelligentes Messsystem) is a digital electricity meter that records your consumption in 15-minute intervals and transmits the data encrypted to your distribution grid operator. The Federal Electricity Supply Act (StromVG Art. 17abis) defines it as a metering system that supports bidirectional data transmission and captures actual energy flow and its time profile.
The difference from the old Ferraris-disc meter: that mechanical meter was read manually once or twice a year. The smart meter transmits automatically — and unlocks applications that were previously impossible: local electricity communities (LEG), dynamic tariffs, load management.
What it is not: not an IoT device in the consumer sense. Transmission runs over the power line itself (Powerline / PLC) or over dedicated narrowband radio networks — not over your home WiFi. It does not influence your electricity consumption and does not impose new costs beyond what's regulated.
Three legal anchors define what a smart meter is and does in Switzerland: StromVG Art. 17abis (the act-level definition), StromVV Art. 8a (technical requirements), and StromVV Art. 8b (METAS data-security certification). Together they set the floor for what every device installed in your building must do.
The mandate — who, when, why
Switzerland's smart meter mandate has been in force since 1 January 2018, when the revised StromVV came into effect. The legal anchor is StromVV Art. 8a (technical and functional requirements) read with Art. 31e (the rollout timeline).
The headline obligation is on grid operators, not on you. Under StromVV Art. 31e, every distribution grid operator (DSO) must ensure that at least 80% of metering points in its area meet the new requirements by 1 January 2028 (end of 2027). The remaining 20% can stay on conventional meters until their natural end of life.
Smart meters at your grid operator — BKW, EKZ, EWZ & others
Coverage varies dramatically by grid operator. CKW finished its rollout in April 2024 and EKS completed by end of 2025 — both ahead of the deadline. EKZ in Zürich is at ~83% and ahead of schedule. BKW, with much larger territory, is in mid-rollout and targets completion for end of 2028. Below is the verified status for the operators most of our readers ask about — pick yours from the selector.
BKW — Bern + 7 cantons Mass rollout
BKW (BKW Energie AG) runs what it calls "Switzerland's largest smart meter rollout". The mass replacement programme began in August 2024 with installer partner cablex AG, a Swisscom subsidiary.
- ~100,000 smart meters installed by autumn 2025; pace of ~500 devices per day across roughly 70 staff including 44 installers (BKW blog, Oct 2025).
- Device type: Kamstrup OMNIPOWER®, direct-measurement variant, installed at all low-voltage households.
- Communication: Powerline / mobile hybrid depending on site.
- Notification: proactive — BKW writes to customers before the replacement appointment.
- Total target & completion: 400,000+ smart meters across the full BKW territory, with completion targeted for end of 2028— one year past the national deadline, BKW's own decision based on territory size.
- Estimated coverage: ~25–30% as of autumn 2025 (100k of 400k+), climbing at 500 devices/day.
EKZ — canton of Zürich, ~520,000 households Ahead of schedule
Elektrizitätswerke des Kantons Zürich is one of the most advanced rollouts in Switzerland. Per the EKZ annual report, roughly 83% of meters were already replaced as of the most recent reporting period (cited via EVP Zürich, May 2025).
- Communication: Powerline (PLC) primary; quarter-hourly load profile data uploaded into the EKZ central IT system (EKZ Eigenstrom X product sheet 2026).
- Dynamic tariffs: EKZ launched dynamic grid-usage and energy tariffs in 2026 — a smart meter is the precondition.
- Status portal: via myEKZ — you can check whether your address has been migrated.
- Implication for LEG: in EKZ territory most members are already smart-metered. Onboarding to an Upgrid LEG is fast.
EWZ — city of Zürich + Graubünden grid, ~300,000 meters On track for 2027
EWZ (part of the city of Zürich's administration) is replacing all conventional meters in two grid areas — the city of Zürich and the EWZ-operated grid in Graubünden — by 2027. The pace is roughly 40,000–60,000 meters per year (EWZ).
- Communication: primarily ewz.zürinet fibre; mobile or ADSL where fibre is not available.
- Tender 2026–2028: EWZ is procuring smart meters in three variants (RS-485, PLC, RS-485 + mobile) — the procurement runs to 2030.
- Customer portal: mein ewz shows previous-day consumption for private customers.
- Status: in active mass rollout, replacing all conventional meters in the city of Zürich and the EWZ-operated Graubünden grid by end of 2027 — free of charge to customers.
CKW — Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke, Central Switzerland Rollout complete
CKW finished its rollout in April 2024 — three and a half years ahead of the statutory 2027 deadline. 185,000 smart meters were deployed across Central Switzerland (Luzern + parts of OW/NW/SZ/UR/ZG), making it the largest single-DSO completion at that time.
- Deployment: 185,000 smart meters across the entire territory.
- Communication: modern radio (Funk) — readings happen fully remotely, no on-site visits required.
- For LEG members: every CKW customer is already smart-metered, so onboarding via Upgrid is immediate with zero installation wait.
IWB — Industrielle Werke Basel ~63%+ (last disclosed 2023)
IWB Basel was one of Switzerland's earliest movers — the rollout started in 2013, more than a decade before the statutory mandate took effect. Supplier is INTEGRA Metering; cablex has also deployed fibre-based remote reading for parts of the network.
- On your IWB bill: the meter section is labelled Messpunkte, not Zählernummer— that's where your number lives.
- Communication: hybrid — fibre-optic where the building has fibre (deployed via cablex), otherwise radio.
- Coverage: IWB last stated just over 63% of customers already had smart meters in autumn 2023 (Blick, Oct 2023 — IWB figure in the Kassensturz operator survey). The IWB annual report does not publish an updated rollout percentage; with roughly 5,000 meter replacements per year (IWB via BzBasel), coverage has likely risen since — check your meter or contact IWB for address-level status.
EKS — Elektrizitätswerk des Kantons Schaffhausen Rollout complete
EKS finished its rollout by end of 2025— Landis+Gyr smart meters across roughly 60,000 metering points in Schaffhausen plus EKS's cross-border supply into southern Germany. The deployment ran in phases of about 8,000 meters each.
- Communication: mobile network (Mobilfunk).
- Enabled in 2026: EKS moved from annual to quarterly billing and launched an optional flexible tariff alongside the fixed single-rate option — both impossible without smart meters.
- For LEG members: every EKS customer is already smart-metered, so onboarding via Upgrid is immediate.
Switzerland has roughly 590 distribution grid operators. The largest cover the bulk of households, but small municipal utilities (EWN, EWS, EW Romanshorn, dozens of others) follow the same StromVV obligations. The 80% target is per grid area — your operator must comply, regardless of size. Ask them directly, or check their annual report.
What does a smart meter cost — and who pays?
The headline answer: installation is free to you. The cost is borne by the grid operator and recovered through the regulated grid-usage tariff — ElCom estimates the smart meter plus installation at around CHF 250 per device, spread across all grid users.
What you do pay is the metering fee (in German: Messtarif). Since 1 January 2026, this position is disclosed separately on every electricity bill — a transparency requirement introduced by StromVG Art. 17a alongside the broader Mantelerlass reform. Previously these costs were embedded inside grid charges.
| Item | Cost to you |
|---|---|
| Smart meter device + installation | CHF 0 — borne by your grid operator |
| Annual metering fee (Messtarif) | ~CHF 74/year on average (national H4 reference household, 4,500 kWh — ≈1.65 Rp./kWh). Actual range CHF 60–100/year by DSO and consumption profile. |
| Customer-interface activation (read your own data) | Typically CHF 0; some DSOs charge a one-off setup |
| If you refuse the smart meter | CHF 90–120/year extra (ElCom guideline, manual reading) |
What the metering fee covers: meter reading, device maintenance, data transmission, and storage. What it does not cover: your actual electricity consumption — that stays on the separate energy-cost lines of your bill.
Data privacy & security
Smart meter data falls under both the Federal Data Protection Act and the stricter Swiss electricity-supply ordinance regime. Three protections matter most:
Smart meter and LEG — why one needs the other
A local electricity community (LEG) only works on 15-minute data. Every participant — producer and consumer — must be measured precisely enough that solar power can be allocated fairly across the community for each quarter-hour. The smart meter is what makes that possible. No smart meter, no LEG membership.
In practice: in regions with advanced rollout (EKZ, parts of EWZ and BKW), your smart meter is probably already installed. Joining an Upgrid LEG is then immediate. In regions still ramping up, the DSO has a legal obligation to install a smart meter on request — your LEG sign-up triggers that request, and Upgrid coordinates the appointment with your DSO at no cost to you.
1. Register for the LEG via Upgrid (~2 minutes). 2. We check whether your address already has a smart meter via the DSO data exchange. 3. If yes, you start the next billing period. 4. If no, we file the installation request and coordinate the appointment with the DSO — typically within 3 months under StromVV Art. 31e obligations.
Frequently asked questions
Ready to use your smart meter —
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