AU Households
You can contact our team about your smart meter on
1800 953 945 Monday - Friday between 8am and 5pm, Saturday between 9am and 2pm.
Modem replacement
Bluecurrent is working with energy retailers to install and upgrade smart electricity meters. If you've heard from your retailer about this for your home or business you might have some questions, which are answered below. If you have any other questions, please contact your energy retailer.
There's no cost to you.
Sometimes the technician may need to install a small aerial to improve the signal and make sure we can communicate with the smart electricity meter.
If we don't replace the modem, a meter reader will need to take a reading every three months, which may come with an additional charge from your retailer.
We are the metering services provider for your electricity retailer. Our role is to manage and maintain the electrical meter/s onsite for your retailer.
Your retailer should be made aware of any issue that may impact on our ability to access the meter. You can call 1800 953 945 for our team to arrange an appointment that suits you.
It takes around 30 minutes to complete. Your power will not be turned off unless your installation has an immediate safety issue. If a safety issue is identified, the work will be stopped immediately, and a senior electrical meter technician will arrange to visit.
If your advanced electricity meter is outside your home and easy to get to, you don't need to be home for us to upgrade the modem.
If your meter is located inside your house, someone will need to be home to give the technician access for about 30 minutes. If your advanced electricity meter is inside, please call us on 1800 953 945 to arrange a time for the appointment.
If you'd like to change your appointment date, please call 1800 953 945. The team is available Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to 2pm.
Smart metering
Recent changes in Australia will see an accelerated roll of smart meters across the east coast. Smart meters provide consumers greater insight into their energy usage, so they can make the most of their energy consumption and reduce costs. For more information about smart meters, please visit the AER.
A smart meter is a digital electricity meter that measures and records a home or business electricity use. We send this data to your retailer remotely, removing the need to send a meter reader to your property to read the meter.
Electricity consumption data is sent to your energy retailer and electricity distributor over secure and private networks.
The meter doesn't know your name or address. Your energy retailer uses the meter identification number to match the data to your account details in their system.
Your energy data and personal information are protected under the National Electricity Law and the Privacy Act 1988 (Commonwealth of Australia).
There are safeguards in place to protect consumers from unauthorised access to metering data and its services. For example
- data showing that your meter exports solar energy during the day is protected information
- access to metering data is limited to registered energy market participants, such as retailers and meter providers.
If you haven't already, contact your Retailer to let them know that there is life support equipment in use at your property. They will register your equipment and let you know about the life support protections available to you.
If you have registered life support equipment with your retailer, our team will contact you to make an appointment for your meter upgrade. You will also receive a letter confirming your appointment at least four business days before we upgrade your meter. This will give you time to put your back-up plan into action. If anything changes, please contact us on 1800 953 945 and we can update the appointment for you.
The new regulations require all basic meters to be upgraded to a smart meter. You can't refuse to have your meter upgraded but you can ask your retailer to remove the communications function. This means you will require a site visit for your meter to be read. Please discuss this with your retailer as there may be additional charges.
Yes, smart meters are manufactured and installed according to Australian Standards.
All smart meters must comply with the electromagnetic exposure limits developed by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA). The same limits apply to things like mobile and cordless phones, WiFi routers and sound monitors.
Retailers and Meter providers are responsible for the metering equipment installed at a property. The property owner is responsible for the meter panel, switchboard and wiring within the property. Authority from the owner of the property is not required, though it may be a good idea to let them know in case any site defects or safety issues are detected during the upgrade process.