De netbeheerder leest de slimme meter.

Because Dutch usually writes compound nouns as a single word.

So:

• net = network / grid
• beheerder = manager / operator / administrator

Together, netbeheerder means something like grid operator or network operator.

This is very normal in Dutch. English often uses spaces where Dutch prefers one compound word.

Examples:

• huis
  • deur → huisdeur = front door / house door
• water
  • fles → waterfles = water bottle

In this context, de netbeheerder is the company or organization that manages the electricity or gas grid.

It does not usually mean the energy supplier itself. In Dutch utility language, a netbeheerder is specifically the party responsible for the network infrastructure and meter-related tasks.

So for a learner, a good practical translation is:

• grid operator
• network operator

Because both netbeheerder and meter are de-words in Dutch.

Dutch singular nouns usually take either:

• de
• het

These are grammatical gender/article classes, and you often just have to learn them with the noun.

So:

• de netbeheerder
• de meter

Since both nouns are definite here, they both take de.

Because when an adjective comes before a noun in Dutch, it usually gets an -e ending.

Here:

• base adjective: slim
• before the noun: slimme

So:

• de slimme meter

This is especially expected after de.

Compare:

• de slimme meter
• een slimme meter

In both of these, slim becomes slimme.

Because the subject is third person singular: de netbeheerder = he/she/it.

The infinitive is lezen = to read.

Present tense:

• ik lees = I read
• jij leest = you read
• hij/zij/het leest = he/she/it reads
• wij lezen = we read
• jullie lezen = you read
• zij lezen = they read

So with de netbeheerder, the correct form is leest.

Grammatically, yes: leest is the normal verb form of lezen.

But in this context, een meter lezen is often used in the utility sense of:

• reading a meter
• taking a meter reading
• checking the meter data

So it may sound a little more technical than ordinary book-reading.

With a smart meter, it can also imply collecting or accessing the data the meter provides.

This is the normal order for a simple Dutch main clause:

subject + finite verb + object

So here:

• De netbeheerder = subject
• leest = finite verb
• de slimme meter = object

This is very similar to normal English word order in a basic statement.

Also, Dutch main clauses usually place the finite verb in the second position. In this sentence, the subject comes first, so the verb follows it.

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

• de ≈ duh
• netbeheerder ≈ net-buh-HAYR-dər
• leest ≈ layst
• slimme ≈ SLIM-uh
• meter ≈ MAY-tər

A few helpful notes:

• Dutch ee in leest and meter is a long vowel, somewhat like ay, but usually with less glide than in English.
• slimme ends with a weak -e, like uh.
• The r may sound different depending on region.

These are only approximations, but they are a useful starting point.

Because Dutch does not capitalize all nouns.

Unlike German, Dutch only capitalizes:

• the first word of a sentence
• proper names

So in this sentence:

• De is capitalized because it starts the sentence
• netbeheerder and meter stay lowercase because they are ordinary nouns

Yes. Slimme meter is the standard Dutch term for smart meter.

It is a very direct and natural translation:

• slim = smart
• meter = meter

So this is not a strange literal translation; it is the normal everyday term used in Dutch.

Yes. De slimme meter is the direct object.

It is the thing being acted on by the verb leest.

So:

• De netbeheerder = who does the action
• leest = the action
• de slimme meter = what is being read

That is why the sentence means that the grid operator is the one performing the action on the smart meter.