Smart gas meters: mandatory for all homes in ten years

The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has approved the plan making the replacement of analog natural gas meters with smart meters mandatory for all supply points with an annual consumption equal to or less than 50,000 kWh. Order TED/1122/2026, of October 23, is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) no. 266 on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, and enters into force the day following its publication. The schedule sets the replacement of at least 20% of the fleet within three years and 100% within a maximum of ten.

The regulation develops the mandate of Article 14 of Royal Decree-Law 18/2022, of October 18, which had already ordered the deployment of smart meters for consumers up to 50,000 kWh per year and referred the plan and specifications to a ministerial order. The measure affects the entire domestic and commercial fleet: meters with a maximum flow equal to or less than 25 m³/h have a useful life of twenty years established by Order ICT/155/2020, of February 7, with replacement deadlines subsequently extended to thirteen years by Order ITU/1475/2024, of December 17.

The final push came after confirming that the cost-benefit analysis is positive with current energy prices. The report from the National Commission on Markets and Competition (INF/DE/023/21), prepared in 2021 with gas at 17.7-22.3 €/MWh and emission allowances at 43-45 €/tCO₂, showed a net present value of 14 million in the age-based replacement scenario and -30 million in the generalized scenario. With the prices of 2023 and 2024 (39.12 and 38.08 €/MWh for gas; 83.60 and 64.66 €/tCO₂) and those of June 2026 (approximately 50 €/MWh and 76 €/tCO₂), the order concludes that both scenarios would be positive and that implementation is mandatory.

Four milestones for the domestic fleet

Distributors must replace and integrate into their remote management system, according to Annex I:

At least 20% of the total analog meters within three years.
At least 50% within five years.
At least 80% within seven years.
100% within a maximum of ten years, with a maximum residual margin of 2% of the fleet for non-attributable causes, which must be justified and approved by the CNMC.

For supplies between 50,000 kWh and 5 GWh, Annex II requires remote reading systems in 50% of the points within five years, 80% within seven, and 100% within ten. Compliance is measured by business group.

Hydrogen, alarms, and remote communication

The equipment must meet, at a minimum, these functionalities:

Secure bidirectional communication with the network owner’s remote management system.
Remote disconnection of the supply, at least up to 150 mbar of measured pressure.
Identification and transmission of alarms and events, including signs of tampering.
Measurement of daily consumption adjusted to the gas day and data transmission every three days at most.
Local storage of at least 65 daily readings and remote software updates.
Dimensions compliant with the UNE 60510 standard and battery replacement without uninstalling the meter or breaking the metrological seal.
Compatibility with gas flows containing at least 20 mol% hydrogen.

The preferred communication technologies are NB-IoT and LoRaWAN, with GPRS limited to exceptional cases, and the protocol must be open and non-proprietary. Each distributor will publish a list of at least three compatible commercial models on its website.

Notices, visits, and free access to data

The distributor will communicate the obligation to replace the meter three months in advance and will provide notice of the date and time slot for the visit fifteen calendar days prior, in an interval that may not exceed four hours. If the visit fails, the user will have ten business days to arrange another appointment; if an inadequate indoor installation is detected, they will have six months to rectify it. The installation will be free of charge for the user, except for substantial modifications to the installation, and the consumer may choose between owning or renting the meter.

The consumer will have free access, via website and mobile application, to their daily data from the previous twenty-four months, with a maximum lag of three days, and to accumulated data from at least three years, downloadable in CSV format. Distributors must offer a common and free API within two years and the data platform within one year.

Annual reports and the role of the CNMC

Distributors shall submit an execution report before March 1st of each year to the General Directorate of Energy Policy and Mines, the CNMC, and the competent regional body, with details by municipality, province, and community, including unsuccessful visits and their reasons. After three years, the General Directorate will prepare an evaluation of the deployment. The order is signed by the Third Vice President and Minister Sara Aagesen Muñoz.

The deployment turns the meter into the gateway for gas digitalization: it allows daily readings without estimates, detects fraud and abnormalities, and provides households with information to reduce consumption. The cost of replacement does not fall on the user, who will only notice the new rental price once the equipment is fully integrated and they can consult their data, as established by the regulation.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 266, October 27, 2026, Sec. III. Other provisions, page 143678 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-22515).