{"id":15563,"date":"2026-10-07T11:05:37","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T09:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bayootec.com\/?p=15563"},"modified":"2026-10-07T11:05:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T09:05:40","slug":"customer-portals-for-municipal-utilities-why-they-need-to-do-more-than-just-track-meter-readings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bayootec.com\/en\/blog-en\/customer-portals-for-municipal-utilities-why-they-need-to-do-more-than-just-track-meter-readings\/","title":{"rendered":"Customer Portals for Municipal Utilities: Why They Need to Do More Than Just Track Meter Readings"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a situation that every municipal utility is likely familiar with: After sending out annual bills, numerous customers call with questions about additional payments, and customer service becomes overwhelmed. Customer portals are designed to handle this flood of inquiries.<\/p>\n

However, new requirements have been placed on these portals for some time now: switching providers has been simplified, smart meter data is mandatory, and the Accessibility Enhancement Act has been in effect since June 2025.<\/p>\n

In this article, we\u2019ll take a closer look at what customer portals must now be able to do, where technical bottlenecks lie, and when a custom portal is a better choice than a standard one.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Switching providers is no longer an exception for municipal utilities<\/h2><\/h2><\/div>

According to the Federal Network Agency, approximately 6.7 million households switched electricity providers in 2025; the figures were already similar in 2024. Switching providers is therefore no longer just a money-saving tip, but has become part of everyday life for both providers and consumers.<\/p>\n

This is also supported by Section 20a of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG): According to this provision, starting in June 2025, a technical switch of electricity suppliers must be possible within 24 hours on business days. However, this does not apply to the entire process from registration to the start of service; for this, Section 20a(2), sentence 1, stipulates a deadline of 3 weeks from the date of registration.<\/p>\n

The implication for portals: There is a much smaller window of opportunity for customer retention; after all, customers can switch to a competitor within a single business day.<\/p>\n

A survey conducted by the Handelsblatt Research Institute on behalf of SPS among 134 decision-makers in the energy supply and grid operations sectors makes it clear that there are still issues here. Just 15 percent of respondents rate digital customer engagement in their own companies as very advanced. So there is a huge amount of ground to make up in this area.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Among the most important tasks that customers want to complete on portals are:<\/p>\n