FAQ

The electricity meter registers only one index value every quarter of an hour and the natural gas meter only one index value every hour. The granularity (quarter-hourly or hourly) of the customer's overall consumption data does not make it possible to identify the customer's individual devices or consumer behaviour.

The Luxmetering database does not host customer data. All data is securely hosted in highly secure data centres on servers belonging to Luxmetering and the network operators and suppliers. The data never leaves the country. Between the meter and the supplier, the data transfer is systematically encrypted. The Internet is never used throughout the communication chain.

The network operators attach particular importance to the security of smart metering. In order to guarantee the secure transmission of consumption data to the central system managed by network operators, the data is transmitted in encrypted form. The algorithms used for this encryption meet the highest standards currently available in terms of IT security.

A real-time meter value (index or Zählerstand) is sent to the central system (at a quarter-hourly rate for the electricity meter and at an hourly rate for the gas meter), where it is recorded and saved for a maximum of fifteen years. Events concerning the quality of supply, such as absence of voltage, overvoltage or technical faults in the meter, are transmitted to the central system and used by Luxmetering and the network operators for operational purposes.

Energy consumption data is collected several times a day via the central system managed by Luxmetering GIE. Metering data is transmitted daily to the customer's supplier. The network operator in question, the customer's electricity or natural gas supplier and, where applicable, a service provider designated by the consumer will have access to the customer's data. The legal framework clearly defines the authorised processing purposes and ensures that data cannot be transferred to third parties without the consumer’s prior consent.

The National Commission for Data Protection (Commission nationale pour la protection des données – CNPD) has supported network operators in preparing for the widespread deployment of smart metering in Luxembourg. The processing of personal data by network operators has been the subject of prior notification to the CNPD.

Data is transferred between the smart meter and the central system via the existing electrical network by means of Power Line Communication, also known as Power Line Carrier (PLC). In certain rural areas with low population density, it is sometimes technically necessary and economically more advantageous to use meters communicating via GPRS, which is a standard for mobile telephony derived from GSM.

Please note, the electricity meters act as a secure communication gateway with the gas meter, but they can also communicate, where necessary, with water and heat meters via a wired or radio link.