To make use of renewable energy effectively we need to have the following information.
When importing or exporting energy from the grid, where the energy is priced under a variable, time-of-use tariff, customers need to have usage data that is:
- real-time (per second if possible) – so that we can see when we are using our energy;
- reporting total energy imported and exported, with a power measurement for energy used or generated – so we can see how much power we are importing or exporting;
- locally available via a local serial/wired port/connection to a local energy management system – so that operation is unaffected if there is any form of internet access;
- the same as the billing data– so that bills can be independently verified when the data is combined with the applicable tariffs.
This is the minimum requirements.
So, where is the problem?
Energy systems being installed for NEM customers at the moment provide none of these, not completely.
The rules that govern the NEM, as specified by the AEMC, were changed in December 2025 to include rules covering “Real-time data for Consumers“.
Contrary to the points mentioned by AEMC Chair Anna Collyer in the above article, this rule change does nothing to meet the needs of retail customers. It introduces mechanisms by which the energy industry legally gets more detailed data about your energy usage, and gets to charge you for the systems that they now get to implement.
It would cost a minimal amount to modify smart meters to provide all of the above requirements, for all Australians. (None of this is new, and has been a standard in Europe for 18 years.)
Why is this important?
Australians are angry at the way that electricity prices are constantly going up. We are angry at politicians how say prices are coming down, but the energy industry in still able to charge its customers more.
Here was one way that the industry could have very easily given customers something back. Something that cost the industry very little, was genuinely useful to everyone’s’ energy future, and provided some hope that the industry is able to meet Australia’s needs.