Want more control of your energy bills? You don’t have to wait for a meter reader – just track your usage and costs yourself by submitting a self-meter read in My Account or the Origin app.
Our self-meter read is designed to give basic meter customers more control over their bill. You can read your own meter, send your data straight to us to get a bill issued, or see your current cost and usage.
This guide is for residential customers who are reading their own electricity or natural gas meters at home. If you're a small business customer, there's a different guide for you.
When to do a self meter read
You can submit a self-meter read anytime you like. Depending on where you are in your billing cycle, you can:
track your cost-to-date and get a bill prediction – anytime
have an estimated bill adjusted – if you submit your self-meter read on or before the due date of your estimated bill
Who is eligible for a self meter read?
Customers with a basic electricity or natural gas meter can submit a self-meter read. Find out if you have a basic or smart meter.
It's important to note: You can’t submit a reading if it’s your first or final bill. In these instances, an official read from a meter reader (your distributor) is required.
We’re also required to collect one actual read from your distributor every 12 months. This means you can only submit up to 11 self-meter reads each year – contact us if you want to know where you’re at.
Should your distributor send through an actual reading for the same bill period, we'll use that to issue your bill.
Get it done in the app
You can send your own meter reading straight to us using our Origin app. If you’re eligible, you can check your cost, usage or get your bill issued – straight from your phone.
How do I submit a self meter read?
Watch our video tutorial or follow step-by-step instructions below on how to read your meter and submit a self-meter read.
Do a self-meter read in 4 simple steps
1. Prepare for a self meter read
We’ll show you the serial number of the registered meter. Check it’s the same as the number listed on your bill. If your account isn’t eligible, select or tap Find out why and we’ll explain. |
2. Find your meter
For units, townhouses or warehouses – you’ll most likely find your electricity, gas or hot water meter outside.
Electricity meters are often placed:
Gas meters are usually found at ground level, outside your house, close to the street. If you're in NSW, it could be under your kitchen sink.
Apartment living? All the meters for your building are probably stored together in a room or cupboard. It’s worth chatting with your body corporate, building manager or real estate agent to get access.
Please be careful – sometimes meters can be in awkward places or be home to unfriendly guests. |
3. Identify your meter
Check that your meter serial number matches the one in the app.
There are many different types of meters. The most common ones are digital displays, odometer displays and clock displays. Making sense of the numbers is easy when you know what to look for – find out how to read your meter here. 
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4. Record your self meter reading
When there are lots of clocks or zeroes on the screen, it’s helpful to check your last meter read and make sure the number is in a similar range.
Once you've noted down the numbers, simply enter it into the app or My Account, and click "Save reading".
Job done. We’ll process your self meter read with your distributor and update your account in the next 24 hours. |
What happens after I submit a self meter read?
Depending on the purpose of your self meter read, a few different things will happen:
Cost to date and predicted billSubmit your self meter read to view your cost to date and see your predicted bill. We’ll keep a track of it to help predict your bill again at the next read.
At the moment, we’re not able to reflect your self meter read on your usage screen or dashboard, but we’re working on it. For now, you can see your most recent bill prediction and check your cost so far by going to the self meter read screen. |
Estimated bill adjustedIf your last bill was based on an estimated read and its due date is no later than today's date, we'll use the self-meter read you have provided to adjust your estimated bill with updated usage information and a new due date. We can do this within 5 business days. If you miss this timeframe, we'll automatically adjust your account when we get your next actual read. |
When can we reject a customer self-read?
We can reject a customer self-read when:
The customer self-read was received on or after the due date for payment of the bill
The customer self-read is not provided in accordance with our guidance and requirements (aka 'How to read your meter')
If it’s customer’s First or Final invoice
The self-read seems inaccurate e.g. usage result is significantly high
The number value of customer read estimate is smaller than a previous actual read
Customer is undergoing a meter exchange
Photo of was meter provided and meter display is not clearly visible, or the photo doesn't show the correct meter installed at customer's premises
Meter hasn’t had an actual read for over 12 months. In order to accept a read outside of this timeframe, the customer must provide a photo of the meter with a date and times tamps, as this will need to be passed on to their Distributor (DB)
If the customer provides a self-read before their Next Scheduled Read Date (NSRD) we need to wait until we receive the reading from the market (this typically takes 5 business days)