The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water are consulting on changes to retail tariff reforms to strengthen consumer protections in the evolving energy market.
We want to make sure that as smart meters are rolled out and tariffs become more cost-reflective, customers have clear information, real choices and protection from bill shock.
To enable this, we have published the NSW retail electricity tariff reforms consultation paper that aims to:
- consider how to prohibit retailers from automatically assigning customers to demand tariffs without their explicit informed consent, as committed in the NSW Consumer Energy Strategy; and
- consider whether NSW should implement the AEMC’s Accelerating smart meter deployment consumer safeguard that would require designated retailers to offer flat rate tariff structures to customers with smart meters.
Smart meters are being rolled out across NSW as part of the transition to a smarter and more efficient electricity system. They can reduce costs by removing manual meter reads and making connections and disconnections easier.
Smart meters also give consumers:
- more accurate real time information about their energy usage;
- improved reliability and safety by quickly detecting outages; and
- the ability to export their households and small businesses excess solar back to the grid to support grid stability.
As smart meters replace older meters, many households and small businesses are being moved from traditional flat tariffs to more cost-reflective tariffs such as time-of-use and demand tariffs.
These changes can encourage more efficient use of the electricity network and reduce bills. However, they also introduce more complex tariff structures and can make it harder for customers to understand how they are being charged, whether they will be better or worse off, and what choices are available to them.
Tell us what you think
Have your say by either uploading your submission below or emailing energy.consumerpolicy@dpie.nsw.gov.au by 5pm Monday 2 February 2026.
