The importance of metering and reducing reliance on exemptions

The Electricity Authority has published a case study to remind distributors of their obligation to ensure metering is installed at all network supply points, whether new or retrofitted at older sites, to support the reliable and efficient operation of the electricity system.

The electricity market relies on accurate data to operate efficiently and reliably.

Electricity meters measure the amount of electricity flowing into or out of a connection point, including network supply points, grid injection points and grid exit points. This information is used for billing, settlement and monitoring across the electricity system.

If metering is inaccurate or absent, consumers may be over‑ or under‑charged and system visibility is reduced.

Recently an unmetered connection point became essential after a transformer failed elsewhere on the network. With the replacement transformer many months away, the unmetered connection was used to support reliability in case of outages. This required an exemption to avoid breaching the Code.

Read the case study

This example highlights the operational and financial risk associated with legacy unmetered sites.

Outdated or inadequate metered assets can:

• complicate asset and outage management
• reduce real-time network visibility
• increase operational and compliance risk
• create higher or misallocated costs if reconciliation is not accurate.

At the same time, metering technologies continue to improve and are more cost‑effective and easier to install, even in constrained or remote environments.

For these reasons, distributors should take every opportunity—especially during maintenance or renewal work—to install or upgrade metering at older unmetered sites.