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
Get a bill issued early – within 10 business days of your next meter read date
Have an estimated bill adjusted – up to 14 business days after the estimated bill has been issued
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 to have a bill issued 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, tap on "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. |
Complete a self-meter read now in the Origin app or My Account.
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 reissuedSubmit your self-meter read and indicate you’d like your bill reissued. We’ll check it out and send a new bill through within 24 hours in My Account or via email. Paper bills can take up to 5 business days.
You have up to 14 business days after your estimated bill has been issued to submit a self-meter read. If you miss the timeframe to submit an actual read for your estimated bill – don’t worry. We’ll automatically adjust your account when we get your next actual read. |
Next bill issued earlySubmit your self-meter read and indicate you’d like your bill issued early. We’ll run some quick checks before sending out your bill. You’ll see it in My Account or your email within 24 hours. Paper bills can take around 5 business days. Any issues with your reading, we’ll let you know as soon as possible. |
I've been asked to submit a photo of my meter – what should I do?
Some accounts are not eligible for self-meter reads, and we’ll need a photo of your meter instead. We’ll let you know if this is the case.
If you’re asked to send us a photo of your meter, here are a few tips.
Make sure the photo is:
clear and not blurry
taken from directly in front, not from above or below
showing the entire face of the meter
free from dust or dirt
easily visible, not obscured by writing or glare
showing two sets of numbers – the meter reading and the serial number
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