De netbeheerder controleert de slimme meter.

Because both nouns in this sentence take the common-gender definite article de:

• de netbeheerder = the grid operator / network manager
• de slimme meter = the smart meter

In Dutch, singular definite nouns usually take either de or het. You generally have to learn which article belongs with each noun.

A useful pattern here:

• words ending in -er for people are very often de words, so de netbeheerder
• meter is also a de word, so de meter

Because Dutch adjectives usually add -e when they come before a noun with de.

So:

• de slimme meter
• de grote auto
• de nieuwe computer

That extra -e is very common in Dutch attributive adjectives.

Compare:

• de meter is slim = the meter is smart
  Here slim comes after the verb, so it does not get -e.
• de slimme meter = the smart meter
  Here it comes before the noun, so it becomes slimme.

Because the subject is third-person singular: de netbeheerder.

The verb is controleren = to check / to inspect / to monitor.
In the present tense:

• ik controleer = I check
• jij controleert = you check
• hij/zij/het controleert = he/she/it checks
• de netbeheerder controleert = the grid operator checks

So controleert is simply the normal present-tense form for a singular subject that is not ik.

It follows the standard Dutch main-clause pattern:

Subject + verb + object

• De netbeheerder = subject
• controleert = verb
• de slimme meter = direct object

So it works very much like English:

• The grid operator checks the smart meter.

This is one of the most basic and common Dutch sentence patterns.

Yes. Dutch very often forms compound nouns as a single word.

netbeheerder is made up of:

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

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

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

Other examples:

• treinstation = train station
• huisdeur = house door / front door
• energiebedrijf = energy company

Not usually. This is an important false-friend issue.

In Dutch, controleren usually means:

• to check
• to inspect
• to verify
• sometimes to monitor

So in this sentence, controleert means something like checks or inspects, not controls in the sense of has power over.

If you want to control in the English sense of directing something, Dutch often uses verbs like:

• beheersen
• besturen
• regelen

So be careful: controleren is often closer to check than to control.

Because Dutch has many words that look similar to English, especially in technical contexts.
Here meter means meter in the utility sense, such as an electricity or gas meter.

But even if the word looks familiar, it is still important to learn:

• its article: de meter
• its plural: meters
• how it behaves in combinations: slimme meter

So yes, it is easy to recognize, but you should still learn its Dutch grammar.

A rough English-friendly guide:

• slimme sounds roughly like SLIM-uh
• controleert sounds roughly like kon-troh-LEERT

A few notes:

• The ee in controleert is a long vowel, a bit like the vowel in English day, but without the strong glide.
• The final -t is pronounced.
• In slimme, the last -e is usually a weak uh sound.

A rough sentence-level pronunciation could be:

duh NET-buh-hayr-dur kon-troh-LEERT duh SLIM-uh MAY-tur

That is only approximate, but it can help as a starting point.

Yes. controleert is present tense.

So the sentence means that the action is happening now, happens regularly, or is generally true depending on context.

For example, it could mean:

• the grid operator is checking the smart meter now
• the grid operator checks the smart meter as part of a routine
• the grid operator checks smart meters in general

Dutch present tense often covers both simple present and, depending on context, something close to English present continuous.

It is often used more generally for a smart utility meter, but in many real-life contexts people especially think of an electricity meter, sometimes together with gas-meter systems.

So the exact meaning depends on context. Grammatically, though, de slimme meter just means the smart meter.

You would use the indefinite article een:

• De netbeheerder controleert een slimme meter.

That means The grid operator checks a smart meter.

Notice that slimme stays the same here. With many Dutch adjectives, the -e is still used before the noun, including after een in many common cases like this one.

So:

• de slimme meter = the smart meter
• een slimme meter = a smart meter

In a Dutch yes-no question, the finite verb usually comes first:

• Controleert de netbeheerder de slimme meter?

So Dutch changes from:

• De netbeheerder controleert de slimme meter.

to:

• Controleert de netbeheerder de slimme meter?

This is similar to English using Does the grid operator check the smart meter?, but Dutch does it by moving the verb rather than adding does.