{"id":21082,"date":"2018-05-02T14:07:59","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T03:37:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=21082"},"modified":"2018-06-21T08:39:43","modified_gmt":"2018-06-20T22:09:43","slug":"origin-energy-meter-changeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/origin-energy-meter-changeover\/","title":{"rendered":"Asking Origin How Long It Takes Them To Change An Electricity Meter: An 11 Step Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Origin<\/p>\n

Electricity meters are low cost, reliable devices that measure how much grid your home uses.\u00a0 Traditional meters need someone to come around and read them, but all new meter installations now have to be smart meters that transmit information wirelessly, making your human meter reader redundant.<\/p>\n

It’s no secret Australia has screwed up royally when it comes to providing grid electricity. Prices that were among the cheapest in the world are now among the highest.\u00a0 As a result of Australia’s grid fiasco, you’d think that Australia would now be smart enough and careful enough not to make a dog’s breakfast of the very basic task of electricity metering.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, from the number of complaints I have been hearing, it’s time to enjoy some custard poured on a bone, because it appears that a dog’s breakfast is what we are getting. \u00a0At the end of last year the responsibility for metering was passed from your DNSP<\/a>\u00a0to your electricity retailer.\u00a0 This was called “The Power Of Choice”. And from the anecdotes I’m hearing, it’s been a debacle.<\/p>\n

For example, yesterday I received an email from a concerned citizen in Sydney who said Origin Energy was unable to estimate when they could get a smart meter installed.\u00a0 They are planning to get rooftop solar<\/a> and as this involves a meter change, they now must get a smart meter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I decided to call Origin Energy and check if they had given up on providing timeframes for new meter installations.\u00a0 After all, it could just be a matter of poor communication resulting in crossed wires.\u00a0 I also decided to to check if there were any fees or charges, either upfront or ongoing, involved in getting a smart meter.\u00a0 While this document from Origin<\/a> says there are no charges in New South Wales, I still wanted to make sure.<\/p>\n

Calling Origin turned out to be an 11-step process that’s not over yet, so it may turn into a 12, 13, or god knows how many step process before it’s over.<\/p>\n

STEP 1:<\/strong>\u00a0 I called Origin Energy customer service at 7:15 pm Melbourne time last night.\u00a0 They advised me to ring their “New Connections Team” in the morning.\u00a0 Fair enough.<\/p>\n

STEP 2:<\/strong>\u00a0 At 10:10 am this morning I called their “New Connections Team” and said:<\/p>\n

“Hello, my name is Ronald Brakels.\u00a0 I’m a writer for SolarQuotes and I’m looking for some information on how long it takes to get a new electricity meter installed in NSW.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I was told a meter change would occur within a 30 day period when getting solar installed but they couldn’t say when it would happen within those 30 days.<\/p>\n

The conversation went fine until the person I was talking to realized I wasn’t a solar installer as they had assumed and I was instead writing an article – and I think they panicked a little.\u00a0 She said she wasn’t authorized to give me a statement and transferred me.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

STEP 3:<\/strong>\u00a0 I was transferred to a person who attempted to transfer me back to New Connections.\u00a0 When I explained that was where I had come from, he said he would transfer me to Sydney since I wanted to know about NSW.<\/p>\n

STEP 4:<\/strong>\u00a0 I played an automated number picking game to get to talk to a human being.<\/p>\n

STEP 5:<\/strong>\u00a0 The human being I was passed to transferred me to Sydney’s New Connections Team.<\/p>\n

STEP 6:<\/strong>\u00a0 Sydney’s New Connections Team told me a member of Origin’s Media Team would contact me soon.<\/p>\n

STEP 7:<\/strong>\u00a0 Waiting for Origin’s Media Team to call me.<\/p>\n

After this phone called ended I checked the time and was surprised to see it was only 10:28.\u00a0 Steps 2 to 6 only took 18 minutes.\u00a0 It seemed a lot longer but pure excitement can cause time to stretch out when you engage in the extreme sport of large company calling.<\/p>\n

STEP 8:<\/strong>\u00a0 At 11:01 Origin Energy Media called.\u00a0 I told them I was looking for information on how long it would take to get a new meter installed in NSW and they told me they would get back to me.<\/p>\n

STEP 9:<\/strong>\u00a0 Waiting for Origin Energy Media to call.<\/p>\n

STEP 10:<\/strong>\u00a0 I realized I hadn’t actually managed to check if there were any fees or charges involved in getting a new meter, so I called Origin again, but this time I was very sneaky and I didn’t tell them who I was.<\/p>\n

\"Origin<\/p>\n

I was connected to someone who told me there were no fees for getting a smart meter installed in NSW.\u00a0 I asked if there were any ongoing fees and they said they didn’t know and would transfer me to their Solar Department.<\/p>\n

STEP 11:<\/strong>\u00a0 I was transferred to Origin Solar and I was assured there were no fees in NSW for getting a smart meter installed and there were no ongoing monthly or quarterly fees either.<\/p>\n

It is now 11:07 and the only useful information I’ve gotten so far from my telephone adventures today was from people who didn’t realize who I was.\u00a0 According to them it takes up to 30 days to get a new electricity meter when rooftop solar is installed, but Origin can’t say when in that period it will occur.\u00a0 And they were able to confirm there are no fees or charges, either upfront or ongoing.<\/p>\n

Hopefully Origin is getting new smart meters installed within 30 days and people aren’t being left hanging.\u00a0 But if Origin Media gets back to me and is able to provide new information I will let you know. I doubt Origin Media will be able to tell me anything on account of how they know who I am.<\/p>\n

Clearly electricity metering and delays in getting new meters is something I need to look into over the next couple of weeks.<\/p>\n

Stop The Presses!<\/h2>\n

I’ve just seen that Origin Media has sent me an email.\u00a0 I have reproduced it in all its original glory below:<\/p>\n

\n
Hi Ronald,<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
further to our earlier conversation this morning and your request for information on \u201chow long it takes to raise orders for new connections and solar alterations\u201d please find following a quote that may be attributed to an Origin spokesperson:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cDelays associated with the introduction of the Power of Choice reforms late last year have now been largely resolved. In most cases we\u2019re now processing requests <\/i><\/b>for ne<\/i><\/b>w<\/i><\/b> solar connections and alternations <\/i><\/b>within a couple of days.\u201d \u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I trust this is help2<\/a><\/sup> & please get in touch if you have any questions.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Well, that’s good news.\u00a0 If you need a new meter because you are getting rooftop solar panels or if for some reason you want an alternation — which according to the dictionary is the “repeated occurrence of two things in turn” — then your request should be processed in a couple of days according to a quote from an Origin Energy spokesperson.\u00a0 And presumably you’ll actually get a new meter within 30 days.\u00a0 So thank you Origin Media, this message is definitely help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Electricity meters are low cost, reliable devices that measure how much grid your home uses.\u00a0 Traditional meters need someone to come around and read them, but all new meter installations now have to be smart meters that transmit information wirelessly, making your human meter reader redundant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":21148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solar-installation","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Long Does It Take Origin To Change Your Electricity Meter?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you get solar power and need a new meter, Origin Energy promise they will change your meter within 30 days. 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Master of heavily researched deep-dive blog posts, his relentless consumer advocacy has ruffled more than a few manufacturer's feathers over the years. Read Ronald's full bio.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/BrakelsRonald"],"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/author\/ronald\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/origin-phonecall.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2FF2s-5u2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":96201,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/three-hours-of-free-power-need-a-smart-meter\/","url_meta":{"origin":21082,"position":0},"title":"Want Three Hours Of Free Power? You’ll Need A Smart Meter","author":"Ronald Brakels","date":"February 4, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Many Australians will have access to plans with three hours of free power from July, but there's a catch: you'll need a smart meter. This means there will be a stampede of people after them in a few months time. Here's why getting your old analog meter upgraded now is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Energy Efficiency"","block_context":{"text":"Energy Efficiency","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/energy-efficiency\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Smart meters - Australia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/smart-meters-australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/smart-meters-australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/smart-meters-australia.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/smart-meters-australia.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/smart-meters-australia.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":85208,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/smart-meters-cefc-mb2961\/","url_meta":{"origin":21082,"position":1},"title":"More Funding For Australia’s Smart Meter Rollout","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"July 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A $50 million Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) loan announced yesterday will help support and accelerate smart meter uptake in Australia. A smart meter is a device measuring electricity use and exports in at least 30-minute intervals, information that is sent to an electricity retailer for billing purposes. If you're\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Smart meters in Australia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/smart-meters-cefc.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/smart-meters-cefc.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/smart-meters-cefc.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/smart-meters-cefc.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/smart-meters-cefc.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12184,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/australia-smart-meters-storage-mb0067\/","url_meta":{"origin":21082,"position":2},"title":"Electricity Metering Rule Changes Could Boost Solar Battery Uptake","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"June 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Implementation of rule changes in December concerning electricity meters may accelerate the uptake of home battery systems across Australia. The installation of electricity meters and related services have generally been provided by the monopoly electricity network operator. From December 1 this year, this market will be opened up with view\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Smart meters and battery storage","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/smart-meters-australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/smart-meters-australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/smart-meters-australia.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97187,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/fact-check-no-smart-meters-wont-cook-you-with-radiation\/","url_meta":{"origin":21082,"position":3},"title":"Fact Check: No, Smart Meters Won’t Cook You With Radiation","author":"Ronald Brakels","date":"February 12, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"You can find plenty of claims online that smart meters are a health hazard or part of a sinister government conspiracy. I've had a look and found these claims to be false. Are Smart Meters Bad For Your Health? Smart meters are not dangerous. I'm not saying they're safe to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Energy Efficiency"","block_context":{"text":"Energy Efficiency","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/energy-efficiency\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A dial pointing to the right above the word 'false'","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Fact-Check-false.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Fact-Check-false.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Fact-Check-false.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Fact-Check-false.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Fact-Check-false.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29794,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wa-smart-advanced-meters-mb1029\/","url_meta":{"origin":21082,"position":4},"title":"Advanced (Smart) Meter Rollout In Western Australia","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"April 25, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Western Power is to install 238,000 advanced (aka smart) meters as part of its routine meter replacement program, and for all new meter installations. Western Power is a WA Government owned corporation that operates in the state's South West Interconnected System (SWIS). Its transmission and distribution network runs from Albany\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Smart meters - Western Australia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/western-power-meters.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/western-power-meters.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/western-power-meters.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/western-power-meters.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/western-power-meters.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21284,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/power-of-choice-meters\/","url_meta":{"origin":21082,"position":5},"title":"Power Of Choice Meter Reforms Result In Powerful Conflicts Of Interest","author":"Ronald Brakels","date":"May 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"On the first of December 2017 responsibility for electricity meters in the National Energy Market or NEM changed hands[1. The rumor that the phrase \"changed tentacles\" would be more appropriate than \"changed hands\" can certainly be denied.].\u00a0 The NEM is a National Electricity Market that apparently thinks Western Australia and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Policy"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Policy","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-policy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/meter-choice.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/meter-choice.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/meter-choice.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/meter-choice.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/meter-choice.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21082"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22394,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21082\/revisions\/22394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}