diff --git a/cmd/configure/configure.go b/cmd/configure/configure.go
index 78b031e4d..cf581762c 100644
--- a/cmd/configure/configure.go
+++ b/cmd/configure/configure.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"text/template"
 
 	"github.com/Masterminds/sprig/v3"
+	"github.com/evcc-io/evcc/util/machine"
 	"github.com/evcc-io/evcc/util/templates"
 )
 
@@ -43,6 +44,8 @@ type config struct {
 	EEBUS        string
 	MQTT         string
 	SponsorToken string
+	Plant        string
+	Telemetry    bool
 }
 
 type Configure struct {
@@ -120,6 +123,10 @@ func (c *Configure) RenderConfiguration() ([]byte, error) {
 		panic(err)
 	}
 
+	// Assign random plant id. Don't use actual machine-id as file might
+	// be copied around to a different machine.
+	c.config.Plant = machine.RandomID()
+
 	out := new(bytes.Buffer)
 	err = tmpl.Execute(out, c.config)
 
diff --git a/cmd/configure/configure.tpl b/cmd/configure/configure.tpl
index 297613bc6..e439903b8 100644
--- a/cmd/configure/configure.tpl
+++ b/cmd/configure/configure.tpl
@@ -8,10 +8,17 @@ log: info
 levels:
   cache: error
 
+# unique installation id
+plant: {{ .Plant }}
+
 interval: 10s # control cycle interval
 {{- if ne (len .SponsorToken) 0 }}
 
 sponsortoken: {{ .SponsorToken }}
+
+# sponsors can set telemetry: true to enable anonymous data aggregation
+# see https://github.com/evcc-io/evcc/discussions/4554
+telemetry: {{ .Telemetry }}
 {{- end}}
 {{- if ne (len .Meters) 0 }}
 
diff --git a/util/machine/machine.go b/util/machine/machine.go
index fa62c6e57..b7037e2d3 100644
--- a/util/machine/machine.go
+++ b/util/machine/machine.go
@@ -30,16 +30,20 @@ func CustomID(cid string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// RandomID creates a random id
+func RandomID() string {
+	rnd := util.RandomString(512)
+	mac := hmac.New(sha256.New, []byte(rnd))
+	return hex.EncodeToString(mac.Sum(nil))
+}
+
 // ID returns the platform specific machine id of the current host OS.
 // If ID cannot be generated, a random value is suggested.
 func ID() (string, error) {
 	if id == "" {
 		var err error
 		if id, err = machineid.ID(); err != nil {
-			rnd := util.RandomString(512)
-			mac := hmac.New(sha256.New, []byte(rnd))
-			rid := hex.EncodeToString(mac.Sum(nil))
-
+			rid := RandomID()
 			return "", fmt.Errorf("could not get %w; for manual configuration use plant: %s", err, rid)
 		}
 	}