Is there a cost for installing a smart meter?

Hugh McKenzie

Updated May 12, 2026 10:43

Amber covers the cost of the smart meter installation in the majority of cases (read here about the situations where we may not).

Once installed, the ongoing cost of owning a smart meter is about $75 a year. We've already included the cost of this in the total Daily Supply Charge, which you can see in your free energy quote (when you get a quote by entering your postcode on our homepage).

We install a smart meter for every Amber customer who doesn't already have one. Around 90% of the time we're able to successfully install a smart meter without any additional works / costs.

The other 10% of the time, smart meter installations require additional electrical works to make your existing meter safe to upgrade.

Here are some common factors that can make your smart meter install more complex, and increase the likelihood that additional work will be required. If you think any of these factors may apply in your case, please give us a heads-up when we schedule your smart meter install.

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 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.

We'll send a meter installer to your property to attempt to install a smart meter. If the attempt fails (usually for one of the above reasons), we'll let you know as soon as we can.

We'll explain any additional work that is required and whether you will need to find a registered electrician to complete the work. If an isolation is required then we can help organise this with your go-ahead and we'll pass through the cost with no markup.

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