Victorian distributors remain confident in smart meter safety

Victoria’s five electricity distributors remain confident that the rollout of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) program – or ‘smart meters’ – is safe.

Jemena, SP AusNet, United Energy, CitiPower and Powercor released a joint press release in November in support of the technology’s safety.

This was supported by Energy Safe Victoria, which completed a comprehensive investigation into smart meters and their installation earlier this year, and found that “meters are being installed safely and by qualified and trained people”.

The installation of 850,000 smart meters across Victoria so far has uncovered an estimated 6500 faults in customer electrical wiring and other defects that have been fixed as a result of the AMI installation process.

“Every one of these is a potential safety issue averted,” the distributors’ release stated.

All AMI installers are either licensed electrical contractors, registered line workers, or certified meter technicians. They also undertake Victorian Government-accredited training before going into the field to install smart meters.

According to the distributors, the AMI rollout reflects industry’s commitment to always putting safety first to protect its workers and the community.

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