Smart meter blunder leaves German engineer battling bureaucracy for months
Experts Are Supposed to Know Their Trade—Especially When You're One Yourself
Ernst Zieris from Maisach is one of them—a true expert in all things electrical. But what this trained electrical engineer recently experienced had little to do with expertise.
Maisach – For decades, the 77-year-old has lived in his two-family home on the edge of town. About 20 years ago, Zieris had a photovoltaic system installed on his roof. "For the sake of the environment—and, of course, for my wallet," he says. Last year, it was time for an upgrade: a new, more powerful system. Its capacity increased from four to seven kilowatts. Since then, the panels have been reliably generating electricity, which the retiree either uses himself or feeds into the grid.
But as with so many things in this country, nothing moves forward without legal regulations. In Zieris's case, the Energy Industry Act (Energiewirtschaftsgesetz, or EnWG) came into play. It requires operators of solar systems with a capacity of seven kilowatts or more to install an intelligent metering system (iMSys). In short, this technology is meant to help optimize the use of renewable energy and stabilize the power grid.
At the end of July 2025, a technician from Bayernwerk—the local grid operator—arrived at Zieris's home. The so-called expert laid a cable connecting the smart meter to an antenna outside the meter box, designed to transmit data to Bayernwerk. The problem? The cable had been routed through the doorframe. Every time the door opened or closed, the cable was pinched.
Zieris, a trained electrical engineer, immediately recognized this as anything but professional work. His verdict: "A botched job." He reported the issue to Bayernwerk. What followed, however, was not a swift fix but months of what Zieris considered unproductive written correspondence.
In February, the Maisach resident turned to our newspaper. Perhaps media pressure would finally get things moving—it wouldn't be the first time. And Zieris was right. Just weeks after our inquiry to Bayernwerk's press office, a technician finally showed up at his home. Zieris's message to our paper: "Bayernwerk was here this morning. All the issues were resolved to my complete satisfaction. Why couldn't they have done this right from the start?"
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