AMI AND SMART METERING LEARNING FROM EUROPEAN SMART METERING DEPLOYMENTS European smart metering received a positive push with the publication of the EU Internal Energy Market Directive (2009), which established that member states should ensure the implementation of intelligent metering systems. At least 80% of European consumers should be equipped with smart meters by 2020 provided the result of a cost benefit assessment (CBA) of smart metering at national level is positive. aforementioned EU directive has been an important stimulus to the deployment of smart metering systems in the rest of Europe. The majority of the member states (MS) have carried out the CBA required by the directive and, based on a positive result of the CBA, many countries have given the go-ahead for smart metering implementation. According to available information, 15 additional MS have decided to go ahead with a national With only a few European countries having fully implemented smart metering, the majority of the European MS are facing the task of rolling out smart metering solutions to all electricity customers over the next few years Still, to date the investment in smart metering in Europe has been moderate. Only Italy and Sweden have finalized their rollouts (Italy installed 36 million smart meters between 2001 and 2008, and Sweden 5.2 million smart meters between 2003 and 2009) while Malta and Finland will complete their smart metering rollouts shortly, with Finland installing 5.1 million meters and Malta 50 000. While national mandates promoted these smart metering rollouts, the rollout, or are currently rolling out such projects. With only a few European countries having fully implemented smart metering, the majority of the European MS face the task. This is a huge challenge, and it is of great importance to make the best possible use of the available knowledge to avoid pitfalls and to find cost-efficient solutions. Local governments, electricity network operators and the metering community in Europe are in great need of good advice ahead of their rollouts, and for this reason it is crucial to exchange experience and lessons learned from existing rollouts and projects. The Meter-ON project: Benefiting from experience; and lessons learned Meter-ON is a recently finalized EU-funded project, aimed at helping to prepare and foster large scale deployment of smart metering infrastructure. The project has been led by European Distribution System Operators for Smart Grids (EDSO), the association representing leading European DSOs. Participants in the Meter-ON project have also involved research and university‐linked institutions and consultants – the Central European Institute of Technology (CEIT Alanova), the Energy Lab Foundation, Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico (RSE) and ZABALA Innovation consulting. In total over 80 smart metering experts have been actively collaborating on the project. As a result, Meter-ON has gathered real knowledge and experience from the most representative smart metering rollouts in Europe, providing a better understanding of today’s status, the different challenges faced, and the best way forward. In contrast to other smart metering studies, Meter-ON has involved the direct participation of those DSOs that have rolled out smart metering, providing their knowledge, experience and lessons learned for the benefit of the European smart metering community: the European DSOs, the smart metering industry, governments, national regulators and European policy makers. Meter-ON took a three-step approach: 1. Collecting smart metering project data 2. Analysing each project from a technical, economic and regulatory perspective 3. Elaborating on recommendations for the way forward Meter-ON has completed three data collection campaigns, analysing information from 23 smart metering projects across 15 European countries, comprising a total of more than 41 million meters installed, and more than 100 million meters due to be installed by 2020. 22 METERING INTERNATIONAL ISSUE - 4 | 2014