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What are remote services?
Remote services allow EnergyAustralia to either connect or disconnect your electricity without a technician visiting your property. These services are made available thanks to the technology of smart meters.
Depending on your state, electricity customers with smart meters can choose to have a remote connection or disconnection after answering a few safety questions.
Checklist before requesting a remote service
Before requesting a remote service, please make sure:
- You have a smart meter
- You can access the meter and main switch (no locked gates, blocked access or unsafe conditions)
- You can turn the main switch to “off” if we ask
Ready? Contact us for a reconnection or disconnection
During your call we may request that you provide safety certificates (for example, a Certificate of Compliance – Electrical Work or CCEW). You can email these safety certificates to serviceorders@energyaustralia.com.au.
EnergyAustralia has introduced remote services in NSW, although it is not currently available for all postcodes. Soon, we’ll be able to offer this service to everyone.
Remote reconnections in New South Wales
Before we can reconnect your power, we need to ask you some questions to make sure it’s safe to do so. By law, you will need to be at the property to answer these questions within 48 hours of the requested reconnection date.
If your power has been off for more than 6 months we will ask for a ‘Remote Re-energisation Safety Statement’ that is less than 7 days old, which can be obtained from a qualified electrician. We cannot reconnect your property without this statement. If you are renting, we recommend you check with your landlord or real estate agent to check if the power has been off for more than 6 months.
If you need electrical work done now, or have had work done since your power was disconnected, you’ll need to provide a Certificate of Compliance – Electrical Work (CCEW). You should receive one from the qualified electrician who did the work. Unless you live in an apartment, we will need to ask you to check if your meter box is safe to access, so you will need to know where it is.
Remote disconnections in NSW
Before we can disconnect your power remotely, we’ll need to ask you some questions to make sure it’s safe to disconnect the power.
We’ll also ask if you or anyone at the property depend on life support equipment. If yes, we will not disconnect the property.
Please be aware that electrically operated devices such as lifts or exit devices such as garage doors will no longer operate.
Remote reconnections in Victoria
To reconnect your power remotely, we will first ask you some safety questions. We’ll ask you to confirm whether:
- Anyone at your address is using life support equipment
- There’s been no recent electrical work
- There’s no exposed wires or other safety concerns
- Your meter and main switch can be accessed
- The main switch at your property is set to “off”
If everything’s safe, we’ll reconnect your property remotely. You can then turn your main switch to “on” once we’ve confirmed everything with you.
Remote reconnections in South Australia
To reconnect your power remotely, we will first ask you some safety questions.
If there’s been recent electrical work, if there’s visible hazards or if the meter is unsafe to operate remotely, a technician will be sent to your property.
In some cases, we may ask you to arrange an electrician to confirm the property is safe before reconnection.
Remote services are not yet available in Queensland.
Remote services are not yet available in Australian Capital Territory.
Common questions about remote services
Find your meter box and follow the below steps.
1. Check the Display Screen
Most smart meters will show a status message. Look for:
- “Connected” – Power is ON.
- “Disconnected” – Power is OFF.
You may need to press a button (usually labelled “A”, “Select”, or “Scroll”) to cycle through the screens.
2. Look at the LED Indicator Light
Smart meters often have a small LED light near the bottom or side of the unit:
- Green LED flashing – Power is connected, and usage is being recorded.
- Red LED flashing or solid – Power is disconnected or there may be a fault.
There are a number of different types and models, but most smart meters are a similar size to the old electricity meters, but with digital displays and no dial.
Find out more about the benefits of smart meters, as well as how you can get one, on our smart meters page.
If we can determine that it is safe to reconnect your power remotely, you’ll usually have power back within 2 hours. However, please note that sometimes it may take up to midnight of that night that you requested the reconnection, depending on any delays.
Your meter display will light up, or it will scroll through the meter readings (for example, NMI, date and time, consumption in kWh).
Some meters may show a “Connected/Supply Available” icon, or a solid red or green LED.
The cost of a remote service is dependent on your Metering Coordinator, and is usually between $10 and $25. We’ll let you know what the cost will be when you request a remote service.
