Smart meters for all? New reforms could put 2030 target in reach

Australia’s energy market rule maker has made good on a promise to fast-track reforms to drive the universal uptake of smart meter uptake, with the publication of a draft determination it says will help put consumers at the forefront of the shift to net zero.

The rollout of smart meters is considered crucial to bed down the “digital foundation” of Australia’s modern renewable grid – and the sooner the better as households turn to solar, home batteries and all-electric appliances and EVs.

This is doubly important now, given the leadership role that households and businesses have taken in the rollout of renewable – accounting for 50 per cent more capacity than large scale wind and solar over 2023 – and expectations that rooftop solar will nearly quadruple in coming decades.

Smart meters enable consumers, suppliers and energy network operators to see real time energy consumption information. By tracking energy use more accurately they they can increase energy efficiency and productivity.

In a recent notice, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) says the proposed rules – which it hopes to start implementing by the end of July – will accelerate the deployment of smart meters.

The move to hurry things along follows the findings from the AEMC-led review of the Regulatory Framework for Metering Services, which recommended a program to install smart meters at all homes and small businesses in the National Electricity Market (NEM) by 2030.

Currently, Australia has relatively low penetration of smart meters at around 30%, despite reforms in 2017 by the AEMC to try and increase numbers.

The only state to buck this trend is Victoria, where the government implemented a blanket rollout in 2006. But the rollout was poorly executed, and did not encourage access to key data, meaning consumers missed out on most of the benefits. The experience in Victoria was also a bit of a failure on costs.

The AEMC review found that a rapid, well coordinated rollout of smart meters could provide net benefits to the value of $507 million for all of the regions of the NEM, including from reduced costs for meter reading, reduced installation costs due to the scale of the rollout, and through simplified grid maintenance and fault and load management.

The AEMC’s draft determination essentially confirms the need to get cracking on this fast-tracked universal rollout and sets out four supporting reforms to ensure things run smoothly and deliver the promised benefits to customers.

To protect customers, the reforms propose safeguards prohibiting any upfront costs ahead of installation and bolstering notification requirements ahead of any tariff changes. It also recommends measures are put in place to ensure customers get the full suite of smart meter benefits.

Other reforms proposed reducing barriers to installation, to ensure delivery efficiencies and therefore cost savings, and improved meter testing and inspections once they’re installed.

“Smart meters present clear benefits for consumers and form a crucial link for the wider energy system, paving the way for significant advances necessary to reach net zero,” said AEMC chair Anna Collyer on Thursday.

The AEMC says it is also committed to progressing further reforms, including customer access to real-time data from smart meters.

“We look forward to receiving a rule change request on customer access to real time data, as recommended by the Review we undertook last year, so that customers can access the full suite of benefits that smart meters offer,” she said.

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This article was first published on RenewEconomy. You can read it here.