Gas meter inside the apartment

Hi Everyone,

I am one of the unlucky people who has a gas meter that is inside my apartment under the kitchen sink.

The builder no doubt put it there so as to save on pipe costs when doing the installation.

Where this is a problem is that the meter readers can’t get to it; they inevitably turn up when everyone is not at home (business hours) Then they estimate the usage.

For me previously, Jemena (the gas supplier in NSW) used to have an arrangement whereby the meter reader would leave a self reporting meter card under the door if you were not home. You would fill this out and mail it to Jemena (postage paid). However in June 2016 they stopped the self reporting meter cards and replaced it with nothing.

I’ve tried taking photos but apparently these are not accepted, which is a ridiculous arrangement in 2018 where most of us have smartphones and easy access to email.

I have escalated this to the energy ombudsman in NSW but they can do nothing as there is an overarching rule that states “you must provide clear and unimpeded access to you meter” Unfortunately the residents of my apartment building can do nothing as the builder installed the meters in a location which really should have been illegal, but who knows why or how that got done back in the day.

I doubt very much whether the strata committee would approve the cost of relocating all the meters and even if we could find a meter with an electronically readable remote panel it would need to be installed and approved by Jemena which brings us back to square one.

What I am trying to gauge is how many people are out there in Strata land who have meters inside their apartment?

I would really like to see the rules change so that there is an exception to the clear and unimpeded access rule and the ability to self report as well as the banning of meters being installed in apartments (if this hasn’t been done already).

If there is enough support maybe we can take this to the minister being an election year.