Automatic Meter Reading Obligation in Turkey: Scope, the 10 MWh Threshold and the Smart Meter Timetable

The automatic meter reading obligation in Turkey (OSOS) means the distribution company reads your meter remotely once annual consumption passes a threshold. Meters at sites using over 10 MWh a year that cannot communicate remotely are being replaced with "smart meter PRO" units: 70% by 1 January 2027, 100% by 1 January 2028. Most industrial users are in scope.

Why industrial users should care

Most plant managers think of OSOS simply as "the distribution company's meter". One day a technician arrives, swaps the meter or fits a modem next to it, and that is the end of it. Yet that meter is the single official source for your bill, your reactive energy charges and your consumption history when you switch supplier.

The rules have changed substantially in recent years. Under the old regime OSOS scope rested on a higher annual consumption threshold; the new regime brings smart meter classes, a national metering system and a fixed replacement timetable. This article answers three questions from an industrial user's point of view: am I in scope, what falls to me, and how can I use the data?

One caveat: this is a general overview of the regulatory framework, not legal advice. For your own site, confirm the details with your distribution company.

How OSOS scope has changed: a short regulatory summary

Under the old regime the threshold was higher than today's. The ÇEDAŞ automatic meter reading page, for example, citing the 2015 Board decision, lists consumer meters above 30 MWh a year, generation facilities feeding the grid, and new connections expected to exceed that consumption based on installed capacity.

The Electricity Market Metering Systems Regulation changed the picture. It defines two meter types (smart meter EKO and smart meter PRO), provides for a National Smart Meter System (MASS) and repeals the 2015 OSOS procedures. According to YEDAŞ's smart meter information page, existing meters at sites whose previous-year or in-year consumption exceeds 10 MWh, separately metered charging stations with at least one 50 kW DC unit or consuming over 10 MWh a year, and the relevant meters of licensed generation plants must be smart meter PRO.

As reported by Anadolu Agency, under EPDK procedures in force since 1 March 2026, meters without remote communication at sites whose previous-year or in-year consumption exceeds 10 MWh are to be replaced: 70% by 1 January 2027 and 100% by 1 January 2028, with priority for users who have chosen their supplier and high consumers.

Does the automatic meter reading obligation cover your plant? A quick check

10 MWh a year works out at roughly 833 kWh a month; even a mid-sized single-shift workshop can reach that easily. In practice, most medium-voltage factories, plants in organised industrial zones (OIZs) and businesses buying power as eligible consumers from a supplier of their choice are in scope. Check yourself against these questions:

1. Did you use more than 10 MWh in the past 12 months? Add up active energy on your bills; if you did, you are most likely in scope.
2. Does your meter communicate remotely? If there is no modem or communication module and you are above the threshold, your meter is due for replacement.
3. Have you chosen your supplier? If you buy under a bilateral contract as an eligible consumer, you are in the group given priority for replacement.
4. Do you have rooftop or ground-mounted solar? Meters at licensed generation plants are covered separately; for unlicensed rooftop systems, confirm the status of generation and net-metering meters with your distribution company. We discuss solar in our article on solar plant monitoring.
5. Is there an EV charging station on site? Separately metered stations with at least one 50 kW DC charging unit also fall within the smart meter PRO scope.

Replacing the meter is the distribution company's responsibility; the regulation places installation, operation and maintenance of meters with distribution licence holders. What falls to you is providing access to the panel and meter location and planning around any interruption during the swap.

The cost of consumption you cannot see

Distribution data shows why metering matters. According to the TEDAŞ 2024 Turkish Electricity Distribution Sector Report, Türkiye's combined technical and non-technical distribution loss rate was 11.02% in 2023. The same report shows industry accounted for 45% of net electricity consumption that year.

For an industrial user the picture is this: the group responsible for almost half the country's consumption usually sees its own usage only through a monthly bill. By the time the bill arrives, a reactive power penalty, the wrong tariff or a compressor idling all night has already cost money. We cover the reactive side in detail in our article on the reactive power penalty.

Demand is also growing. According to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Türkiye's electricity consumption rose 2.1% to 360.9 TWh in 2025. When demand is rising, a business that sees its data promptly negotiates supply contracts and plans production on firmer ground.

How a factory can use smart meter data

The distribution company's meter exists for billing and measures total consumption at the site boundary. The new procedures provide for smart meter data to be passed to EPİAŞ (Turkey's energy exchange and market operator) in a form users can access. We suggest four steps to put that data to work:

1. Pull the official data regularly. Review the load profile available through your distribution company or EPİAŞ weekly rather than monthly.
2. Combine it with sub-metering. The incoming meter shows the total, not which line, compressor or furnace used the energy. For that you need your own sub-meters and a factory energy monitoring set-up.
3. Reconcile. Compare the sum of your sub-meters with the official meter. The difference reveals metering errors, unrecorded loads or unauthorised use. Our anomaly detection guide explains methods that flag unusual deviations.
4. Use it for forecasting and planning. Hourly history helps you predict next month's consumption and the volume in your supply contract more accurately; see our article on electricity load forecasting.

We explain the general architecture of meter reading (meter, communication device, network and central software) in our automatic meter reading guide. For communication options for in-plant sub-meters, see our LoRa vs NB-IoT vs cellular comparison.

How we do this at Digital Bridge

We do not touch the distribution company's meter; that meter and its replacement are the distribution company's responsibility. Our job is to make consumption visible inside the site, beyond that meter, and to combine it with the official data.

• Discovery and needs analysis. We review your single-line diagram, existing sub-meters, panel layout and billing history, then set out the measurement gaps, scope, phases and cost in a clear written proposal.
• In-plant metering infrastructure. With our OSOS meter reading solution we connect sub-meters to central software over the communication method that suits your site. Where off-the-shelf devices fall short, the same team designs the electronics, enclosure and embedded software, and the technical feasibility study for hardware is free of charge. We set out the stages in our IoT product development process article.
• Monitoring and reporting. Consumption by line, reactive ratio and alerts come together in our energy monitoring and management panel. We match energy data with production data so that energy cost per unit becomes visible.
• Forecasting and analytics. For businesses that want forward-looking estimates from past consumption, we build models as part of our demand forecasting analytics work.
• Pilot, then roll-out. We start with one line or one building and compare the sum of the sub-meters with the official meter for at least one billing period. We do not scale up until any difference has been explained.

For multi-point set-ups such as distribution and utility operators, we shape the project within our energy and utilities solutions. More guides on meters, sensors and field devices are collected in our IoT & Hardware hub.

Next step

Start by pinning down your own position: gather the last 12 months of bills, check whether your meter communicates remotely and list the sub-meters on site. Then contact us and we will scope a pilot that combines your official meter data with in-plant measurement.