AEMC recommends mass rollout of smart meters

In a move welcomed by Energy Networks Australia, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has made a final recommendation in its metering review for the accelerated rollout of smart meters across Australian homes and businesses.

As part of the AEMC’s suite of reforms, energy customers would receive a smart meter by 2030, along with better information, protections and data.

The independent review determined that speeding up the rollout of smart meters to 100% of households by 2030 would provide net benefits to the value of $507 million for national electricity market regions, including NSW, Qld, the ACT and SA.

AEMC Chair Anna Collyer cautioned that the current pathways for replacing smart meters have led to positive experiences for many, but not all customers.

“Going from an old accumulation meter to a smart meter can be like going from a landline to a smart phone, and people deserve transparency and timely information about how they can make the device best work for them,” she said.

In the AEMC’s proposal, a coordinated rollout would be led by energy networks developing a legacy meter retirement plan, with retailers overseeing upgrades to smart meters.

Under the final recommendations, retailers would be obliged to provide customer-friendly information prior to meter installations, as well as adequate notice regarding any tariff changes and access to real-time data free of charge.

The recommendations also include the development of a communications strategy for the rollout to inform and assist consumers with their choices, and support for vulnerable customers with premises requiring remediation before a smart meter can be installed.

“Smart meters are key to ensuring we are building a grid that will see us move into a net zero future,” said Energy Networks Australia CEO Dom van den Berg.

“We can’t run a 21st-century grid with 19th-century meter technology. Making sure every home and business has a smart meter will enable that.”

Van den Berg said that while not every customer could take advantage of the cheap power that rooftop solar or batteries can offer, smart meters would allow them to still save on their power bills by taking advantage of flexible pricing options such as the ‘solar soaker’ tariff.

“Smart meters also assist networks to identify, locate and fix faults and outages faster and make connection processes far simpler, which delivers better customer service,” she added.

The AEMC said its final recommendations took in feedback from extensive consultation with stakeholders. The organisation will now work with energy advocacy bodies on next steps in the rule change process. Energy Networks Australia said it looked forward to continuing to collaborate with the AEMC, consumers and stakeholders on progressing these vital reforms.

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