Modern solid-state electronic energy meters (also knows as kilowatt-hour meters, etc.) employ recently developed electronic components to measure electrical energy. Basic electronic meters are not just more cost-effective than mechanical meters, but offer further benefits: measurement accuracy of the electronic meter is about an order of magnitude better than that of a mechanical meter, while power consumption is lower by about two orders of magnitude. The electronic energy meter is also better protected against tampering than its mechanical predecessor, and units for prepaid operation (e.g., card readers) and remote meter reading (e.g., wireless, telephone line, or internet) can easily be included.