Smart meter replacement notice in Queensland: what your retailer can and cannot change

If a letter or email has told you your electricity meter is being replaced, you are one of a lot of people. The national rules now require a smart meter in every home on the grid by the end of 2030, and South East Queensland still has a large number of the old spinning-disc and basic digital meters to get through. The swap itself is usually quick, with the power off for a short while. The part worth paying attention to is what can change on your bill afterwards, and the rules on that changed at the same time.

Why this is happening now

In November 2024 the Australian Energy Market Commission changed the national electricity and retail rules to speed up the smart meter rollout. The accelerated program started on 1 December 2025 and runs to 30 November 2030. Each electricity network, Energex included, had to publish a Legacy Meter Replacement Plan with the Australian Energy Regulator, setting out which groups of meters, by area, are due in each year and how many.

Energex does not usually do the swap itself. Your retailer arranges it through a metering company, so the notice normally comes from your retailer, and the technician at the meter box may be from a company you have never heard of. That is expected. If you are unsure whether a notice is genuine, ring the retailer on the number printed on your bill, not a number in the message.

What the notice has to tell you

Your retailer must give you written notice no more than 60 business days and no fewer than four business days before the installation date. It can skip that window only if you have agreed to a specific date, or to a range of five business days, and even then it has to send the notice within five business days after the work. Under the final rule, the notice has to cover:

• why the meter is being replaced (the rollout, a faulty meter, or your own request)
• roughly when it will happen, which can be a range of five business days
• how you can get the data your new meter records
• your rights and responsibilities, including any work needed at the meter board
• any upfront charge you would pay under your contract
• any change to your contract that comes with the meter, including a change of tariff
• who to contact if something goes wrong, including dispute resolution

Can you say no?

Mostly, no. The old rule that let a household on a standard contract opt out as late as seven business days before the install has been removed, and many market contracts already allowed the retailer to replace the meter anyway. If your objection is to the meter talking to the network, you can ask for a smart meter with its remote communications switched off. It still records your usage every half hour, but someone has to come and read it.

One thing the rules do not force is repair work. If the installer finds a problem with the meter board, such as no room for the new meter, damaged wiring or asbestos, fixing it is the customer's responsibility and nobody can compel you to do it. The electrician's bill for that work is yours, or your landlord's if you rent, so ask for the problem in writing before agreeing to anything.

What it can cost

For a meter replaced under the network's replacement plan, the retailer cannot charge you any upfront fee or exit fee for the swap. That protection does not cover every new meter. A new connection, a meter you asked for outside the schedule, or a meter changed because you added solar or a battery can still carry a charge under your contract. If yours is one of those, ask what it will cost before the date is booked.

The two-year tariff protection

This is the part most people miss. From 1 December 2025, after any smart meter upgrade, your retailer has to get your explicit informed consent before it changes your tariff structure, and that protection lasts two years from the day the meter goes in. In practice it means a household on a single rate cannot be moved to time-of-use or demand pricing just because it now has a meter that can measure it. The protection applies whether the meter came through the rollout, because the old one failed, or because you asked for it.

It has limits, and they matter:

• It covers the structure of your tariff, not the price. A retailer can still change the rates on your plan with notice, though under a rule in force since 1 July 2026 it can only raise them on a single date in July, or once every 12 months on a plan with a fixed price period.
• It does not apply if you move into a home that already has a smart meter.
• It ends if you switch retailer after the meter goes in. The new retailer's plan is one you chose, so read which kind of tariff it is before you accept it.
• Energex may move the meter onto a different network tariff, which it bills to your retailer. During the two years, the retailer cannot pass that on to you as a new tariff structure without asking.

After the two years, a retailer can change your tariff structure without your consent, but it has to give you at least 30 business days' notice, an estimate of what your last 12 months of bills would have been on the new tariff next to what you actually paid, and some practical information on managing your usage. Separately, Queensland made a regulation in September 2024 requiring designated retailers to offer a standing offer with a flat tariff, so a flat rate remains an option once you have a smart meter.

Should you say yes to time of use?

Sometimes. A single rate is not automatically the safe choice, and a time-of-use plan is not automatically a trap. It comes down to when your household uses power. A home that is quiet in the evening peak, runs the pool pump and dishwasher in the day, or charges a car overnight can do well on time of use. A home where everyone gets in at five and the air-conditioner, oven and TV all go on together usually pays more. Our answer on time of use or single rate goes through who comes out ahead.

The useful thing about the new meter is that you no longer have to guess. After a month or two it has recorded exactly when your house uses power, and your retailer's online account will let you download that record, usually as a NEM12 or CSV file. Priced against every plan on the market, that file tells you whether saying yes to a time-of-use offer would save money or cost it. If a controlled load is part of the picture, read Tariff 31 and 33 explained as well, because those circuits are metered and priced separately.

A short checklist for when the notice arrives

1. Check the notice is from your retailer and the date suits. If it does not, call and ask for another.
2. Make sure the meter box can be reached on the day: gate unlocked, dog inside, nothing stacked in front of it.
3. Photograph the old meter's reading on the morning of the swap, so the final read on your bill can be checked.
4. Read the first bill after the install. Is the tariff the same as before? Have estimated reads stopped?
5. If the retailer asks to change your tariff in the first two years, you can say no. Ask what your bills would have been on the new tariff before you decide.
6. After a couple of months, download your meter data and compare plans on it.
7. If something goes wrong and the retailer does not fix it, the Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland handles complaints for free.

For the wider picture on which plans need a smart meter and what one opens up, see do I need a smart meter in Queensland.