Metering Services Review - Accelerating Smart Meter Deployment

Background

The Metering Services Review (MSR) is a key initiative under AEMO’s NEM Reform Program, supporting the implementation of the Accelerating Smart Meter Deployment Rule.

This reform enables a faster transition to smart meters across the National Electricity Market (NEM), supporting improved access to energy data, enhanced customer outcomes, and more efficient network operations.

The MSR program delivers the market systems, procedures, and data exchange capabilities required to:

• Accelerate the deployment of smart meters
• Enable new data services and use cases
• Improve visibility and management of the distribution network

Scope of the Initiative

AEMO’s MSR initiative delivers both core and enabling reforms required under the rule change, including:

Core reforms

• Accelerating smart meter deployment
• Enabling the delivery of Basic Power Quality Data (BPQD) from smart meters

Enabling reforms

• A new defect management process to record site defects
• Improvements to testing, inspection, and asset management approaches
• Updates to metering procedures, market systems and interfaces to support new data exchange services

Delivered Releases

Release 1 – December 2025

The first MSR release delivered foundational regulatory and procedural changes to support accelerated smart meter deployment.

This included:

• Updates to Retail Electricity Market Procedures
• Changes to MSATS to facilitate the exchange of legacy meters for smart meters and to manage defect of legacy meters
• Changes to B2B for shared fusing meter replacement requirements.
• Implementation of enabling reforms to support metering installation, testing and defect management
• Establishment of the framework for subsequent data-related capabilities.

Release 2 – July 2026 (BPQD and IDX)

The second MSR release will deliver:

• The Basic Power Quality Data (BPQD) capability
• The first production use of AEMO’s new Industry Data Exchange (IDX) platform

This release introduces:

• A new API based data exchange service for BPQD
• A standardised mechanism for participants to submit and access data
• New capabilities for data visibility, monitoring and retrieval via AEMO systems

The release supports the 1 July 2026 rule commencement, with implementation being progressed in alignment with participant readiness and system availability.

To learn more about the current scope of BPQD and participant obligations, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions page.

High Level Implementation Assessment (HLIA)

AEMO publishes a metering services review, high level implementation assessment (HLIA) to provide a preliminary view to participants and the AEMC on how the Accelerated smart meter deployment may be implemented by AEMO.

Industry engagement

This initiative forms part of NEM Reform Program and market participants can get involved by visiting:

Implementation toolbox

The Implementation Toolbox is a central location for useful resources to help participants understand and prepare for the changes associated with the rule implementation.

Further information

For more information, please contact [email protected]