Electricity Metering - final bill confusion (possibly due to wrong NMI assigned to the property)

Energy
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A few months ago we replaced the old electricity meter to a digital (smart) meter. The reason was we were thinking of replacing the old gas HWS with an electric one and would need to upgrade the electricity meter box. So we had an electrician to do the wiring and someone from the electricity company to do the installation of the new meter.

Soon we received a bill from the electricity provider (named X) for the usage from the old meter and the new meter. So, we thought everything was going smoothly. Suddenly a month later we received a ‘final bill’ from X - for the month usage. We were puzzled so we called X and asked why we received the final bill. Normally we received the bill quarterly. A team member of X said maybe one of our neighbours had taken over our new meter ? We said unlikely! We asked them for the name and address of the property who (purportedly) has taken over our meter. But X refused and said we should just take a photo of the meter reading and email it to them so they can ‘win back’ the meter for us ???

We wanted to escalate the matter further to see how, why and who has done this to cause this mistake. X said they could not help us. After much insistence, they gave us the tel number of the network. We phoned but just got the verbatim of what X told us. No, we could not tell you who caused the mistake (!). So that our electricity would not be cut off because the future bills were not paid, we should do exactly what X told us to do.

So frustrating that we had to waste time to deal with this. Has anyone had this happened to them? - suddenly got a final bill without doing anything to cause it?

Once this is sorted, we will be thinking of switching energy provider!

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Unfortunately it won’t be the energy retailer. The retailer uses information provided by the metering company, when generating account and billing information.

The error is most likely to be with the metering company - wrong National Metering Identifier (NMI) assigned to your property and thus your account with the retailer. It appears you have someone else’s NMI, and they have applied for a bill finalisation, such as when moves or sells a house.

It needs to be sorted ASAP otherwise you will be paying for someone else’s usage.

It is disappointing that the network operator can’t instruct the metering company to check the NMI at your residence, and confirm it aligns with the one in their database which is attached to your property… as it is the metering company’s responsibility to resolve. The metering company should have their personal ‘floating’ around the areas, reading the manually read meters.

The energy retailer possibly should also do likewise, but is likely to have less clout than a network operator.

I am surprised neither want to resolve. It might be worth contacting the Energy Ombudsman in relation to the problems you are having, as it is unacceptable:

https://www.aer.gov.au/consumers/resources/useful-contacts#ombudsman-schemes

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Thanks, phb, for your input.

The NMI on the final bill was correct. So they are telling us that someone else now has our NMI (!) and they will be paying for our electricity (nice?) but when they discover that, they will notify their energy provider and stop paying so our electricity will be cut off :anguished_face:

We have now provided the energy supplier with a photo of our meter reading, so they can fix it.

Thanks for the link to the Energy Ombudsman - we will write to them to alert them of our issue. Wonder how many have been in our situation?

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There have been some similar issues pointed out on the Community.

Following is a link to one:

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Thanks, grahroll, for the link. Interesting that some have encountered the exact issue we have faced. We did change electricity supplier from energyaustralia to current X a few years ago and did receive numerous emails from EA to entice us to stay. But this current X did not notify us of anything - just emailed us the final bill.

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A lot of meters and easy to input just a single wrong digit when creating records or changing them. I am sure there are many more examples that don’t get any publicity.

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Is there still an issue in that the Metering Service providers are not regulated directly by the AER, leaving consumers no recourse other than to take issues to the retailer and there after the Energy Ombudsmen in the respective state or territory? To ask what obligations if any do the NER’s place on Metering Services providers to ensure they provide reliable and accurate readings? In particular that the readings and meter details are reliable and free of location errors?

Mistakes can happen in any system. Surely it should be up to the Metering Services Provider to prove they are correct and not the customer to prove they are in error. It appears in this instance that the customer has not been trusted and is unreliable. It would seem relatively straight forward for the retailer to be given the authority by the regulator to direct the Metering Services Provider to within a reasonable period of time (say 5 working days) to attend the residences involved to verify the NMI details. It may be a cost and inconvenience to the Service Provider - however given enough failures it may induce the provider to be more careful.

To also ask if Metering Services Providers require approval to carry out those services and if the AER has the authority at any time with sufficient cause to cancel their approval to provide such services? Some have suggested these providers have escaped the regulatory controls that apply to the distributors and retailers.

P.S. AFAIK the Metering Services Providers contract directly with the Retailers - which may explain why the Distributor cannot direct a resolution.

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No, the retailer can request the services of a metering provider, but, their engagement is a bit convoluted.

Metering services comes under the National Enery Rules, Chapter 7 in particular. If one is interested, how metering works and responsibilities, it is explained there:

The metering organisations report to AEMO as outlined in the NER.

Edit: this website explains the metering services structure, as well:

The metering organisations are an interesting beast as their services can be requested by the retailer, network operator or generator. Their services can’t be engaged by the consumer - their relationship is one step removed from the retailer. When a meter box is ungraded and a new meter is installed, this is instigated usually by the network operator. In such cases, the network operator (local distribution network) requests the new meter through the meter coordinator. In such case, the network operator would be responsible for resolving any issues associated with the meter installation as they made the request for installation. It is also worth noting that AEMO approves those providing metering services. Those making requests for installations need to follow the process under Chapter 7 of the NER.

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Thanks for the links which mention 4 roles in respect of metering.

  • FRMP - Financially Responsible Metering Coordinator
  • Metering Coordinators (MC’s)
  • Metering Providers (MP’s)
  • Metering Data Provider’s (MDP’s)

One of those consumer issues Choice could take a more serious look at. In the words of the NSW Energy Watchdog. My BOLD.

Of particular concern to Ms Young were changes to metering that allowed unregulated private companies to provide the service.

Previously, network poles-and-wires companies such as Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy were responsible for installing and managing meters on customers’ properties.

However, Ms Young noted that the Power of Choice reforms had ushered in completely different rules in which new, and largely unaccountable, players had entered the mix.

She said these providers were not only responsible for the meters themselves, but often also the data that was generated.

Yet, she said consumers invariably had no direct line to the metering companies, which were also not covered by the ombudsman’s remit.

The result, she said, was a “crowded and complex” market in which complaints took longer to resolve.

“It’s part of the regulatory framework now and in my experience, it’s difficult to roll things back,” she said.

"These are unintended consequences, dare I say it, so let’s identify where the root cause of these complaints is and find out ways to fix it.

"As the energy ombudsman, what I’ve got to deal with are the complaints that arise from a regulatory framework and be able to work with the regulators and work with the retailers and the networks.

"And what I’d like to do is work with the meter data providers, service providers, and build a relationship between them and consumers to get things fixed.

I found the following most informative concerning the lead role which in respect of retail customers suggests the metering Service Providers do not report and are not appointed by the AEMO. The key role of the FRMP the Retailer obviously does, but not the businesses selected to actually provide the services of meter installations/maintenance, meter rearing and meter data management. It’s clear the retailer has a pivotal role - however if the Energy Ombudsman (Watchdogs) are complaining something needs to change.

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Considering the following from the summary you linked - every time one changes retailer there is potential for things to go wrong because the metering services are not independent of the retailer.

Financially Responsible Market Participants (FRMPs):
Financially Responsible Market Participants have the financial responsibility for a connection point in the electricity market. Their obligations include establishing metering installations and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. According to Clause 7.2.1(a) of the NER, FRMPs must appoint a Metering Coordinator and ensure that the connection point has a registered metering installation. “Except as otherwise specified… the financially responsible Market Participant must ensure that… a Metering Coordinator is appointed… and the connection point has a metering installation registered with AEMO.” (NER, Version 203, Clause 7.2.1(a))

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Welcome back @whichchoice. I hope you don’t mind, I have renamed your topic to make it clearer. Hopefully this will garner more interest from people with similar or related issues.

If I haven’t encapsulated your issue, please feel free to amend the topic title.

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Hi meltam

Thanks, no worry at all.

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Definitely worth contacting the Energy Ombudsman. Qld Ombudsman resolved not only a dodgy but dangerous situation created by my energy company.

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For NSW residents it’s EWON.

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You are not alone and are just scratching the tip of the smart meter iceberg con. Have had similar problems. Not only that, the installer damaged the air con unit below the switchboard and have finally settled a $600 + repair bill.

Do not get conned into the smart meter Time of Use metering with supposedly cheap electricity. If you are a normal user and sign to that, you can expect a power bill increase of between 30 to 50%.

It is all an industry con. The Watch dog in one state has already determined this and I think they are mentioned in this blog.

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Smart Meter Electricity Billing