Did a goose really get in the way of a smart meter installation?

There are many reasons why smart meter installations can get complicated. In some cases, these include issues such as:

• No switch to isolate the meter. This is most commonly needed for older blocks of units, apartments, or townhouses, where multiple electricity meters sometimes share the same power supply. An optional isolation procedure (at additional cost) may be required for the electrician to safely install the new meter without cutting power to other homes.
• Not enough space to fit the smart meter in the meter box (they're a bit bigger than basic and interval meters).
• Exposed or unsafe wiring.
• Asbestos in or around the meter box.

One of the less common reasons is when you have a territorial goose on the loose. 

For some light relief, here are some communications from a time when a customer's goose prevented a smart meter technician from installing a customer's meter. 

(The goose was eventually successfully restrained and the install completed. No geese were harmed in the process of this customer joining Amber!). 

In these cases (goose or no goose), our smart meter partner will let us now that there's a complication. We will then let you know and you can decide if you wish to go ahead with the smart meter install.

To learn more about the smart meter installation process, you can read this explainer.