Empty new homes waiting for ‘smart’ electricity meters

A bureaucratic bungle over new electricity “smart meters” has caused problems for builders.

Construction manager Rod Kevern with smart meters at homes in Blair Athol, near Adelaide. Picture: Tracey Nearmy

A bureaucratic bungle over new electricity “smart meters” has caused problems for builders who’ve been unable to get completed homes connected to the power grid for up to 16 weeks.

One builder said he had dozens of homes he was unable to hand over to clients because of uninstalled smart meters. Another builder was waiting on meters for 70 completed homes, the Housing Industry Association said.

Power meters were previously installed by network distribution companies when they brought power to a site, but new “power of choice” rules in place since December made installing electricity meters more complex.

Responsibility for meter installations was handed to power retailers, who are required to appoint “metering co-ordinators”, who must then engage approved contractors to complete the work.

“It’s a really complicated process,” HIA South Australia director Stephen Knight said.

“It’s just total frustration from a builder’s perspective. They have to hand over the home to the customer but they can’t do that until the home is liveable. And a home without power isn’t liveable.”

Mr Knight said some builders had been left waiting up to 16 weeks before completed homes were powered up, causing some to go on stress leave.

The problem was particularly bad in South Australia, but long delays were also being experienced in Queensland, the ACT and non-metropolitan NSW, the HIA said.

Rosedale Homes construction manager Rod Kevern said he’d had difficulty explaining to clients why he couldn’t hand over their new homes. “As of yesterday I had 24 homes for which we were waiting on meters. Some of our houses have been completed for six weeks, but we needed power to finish them off,” the South Australian builder said.

“It’s really hard to explain what the problem is. People just think the builder is to blame.”

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has written to the Australian Energy Market Commission, urging it to impose a six-day maximum turnaround for new connections. He said he had been advised by AEMC that it expected to make a ruling on the matter by next month.

The so-called smart electricity meters, which make it easier for consumers to minimise their energy use and shop around for better power deals, are now mandatory for all new homes.

“Poor customer experiences in the early stages of the new contestable metering market have the potential to undermine confidence in this important reform,” Mr Frydenberg told the AEMC in a letter.

“Delays can mean customers not receiving electricity at new premises or not taking advantage of energy technologies like solar and storage.”