How to Download Your Smart Meter Data

A step-by-step guide to your NMI, NEM12 Interval Data, and DNSP Meter Portals by state

Last Updated: 2026-07-29

Key Takeaways

  • Find your NMI Number on an electricity bill before you register with any Meter Portal.
  • Your Electricity Retailer and your Electricity Distributor must both give you access to your Smart Meter Data on request.
  • Try the DNSP portal first, because it is self-serve and it usually supplies a standard NEM12 CSV file.
  • When a third-party tool must read the file, choose NEM12 CSV. Otherwise choose a simpler CSV to read totals yourself.
  • A retailer request can take up to 10 business days. Some retailers charge a fee after four manual requests per year.
  • On the Victorian MyEnergy portal, Powercor customers select DETAILED or VECFORMAT to get 30-Minute Interval Data.
  • After an electrician installs a new smart meter, allow up to 10 business days before interval data appears.

Step 1 — Find Your NMI

Every DNSP Meter Portal asks for your NMI Number when you register. The NMI — National Metering Identifier — is the unique 10-digit reference for your electricity connection. It is not your account number with your Electricity Retailer.

Where to find your NMI:

  • On a recent electricity bill: check page 1 or page 2. Look for a heading such as "Your electricity supply details", or see our guide to reading an electricity bill.
  • From your Electricity Retailer: telephone the retailer and ask for the NMI on your account.
  • Not from Energy Made Easy: the federal government Energy Made Easy tool requires your NMI in advance. It does not tell you your NMI.

Bills often print the first 10 digits and omit the 11th check digit. Some portals require all 11 digits. Calculate the missing digit with our NMI Checksum Digit Calculator.

Try our NMI Checksum Digit Calculator Tool

What a Meter Portal checks at registration:

  • The NMI: the portal matches it against the connection at your address.
  • The billing address: enter the address exactly as the bill prints it.
  • The account holder name: the portal confirms that you hold the account before it releases any data.

Step 2 — Choose Your Access Method

Your Electricity Distributor is not your Electricity Retailer. The Distributor — the DNSP, or Distribution Network Service Provider — owns and operates the poles and wires. The Retailer sells you the electricity and sends you the bill.

Both must give you access to your Smart Meter Data on request. They deliver it by different routes, at different speeds, and in different file formats.

DNSP Meter Portal — usually the faster route:

  • Speed: the portal serves the file immediately after you register with your NMI.
  • Formats: most DNSP portals offer NEM12, and some also offer a simpler CSV.
  • Source: the DNSP holds the meter readings that the rest of the industry uses.
  • History: most DNSP portals hold 12 to 24 months, and some Queensland networks hold data back to 2017.

Electricity Retailer request — the fallback route:

  • Method: you send a manual request by email, by web form, or by telephone.
  • Time: a retailer request can take up to 10 business days.
  • Format: the format varies by retailer, and some retailers send a simpler dashboard CSV instead of a strict NEM12 file.
  • Cost: some retailers, such as AGL, charge a fee after about four manual requests in 12 months.

Try your DNSP Meter Portal first. It is usually faster, and it usually produces a more standard file format. When your state has no portal, or the portal does not yet list your address, use the Retailer route.

Step 3 — Pick the Right File Format

Many portals offer a choice of file format at the download step. Two options cover most readers.

The two main options:

  • NEM12 CSV: the AEMO format for 30-Minute Interval Data. A range of third-party tools, solar installers, and energy assessors accept NEM12 CSV Format.
  • A simpler CSV: a plain date-and-kWh table that opens cleanly in Excel or Google Sheets, at lower resolution.

When a third-party tool must read the file, choose NEM12 CSV. NEM12 CSV keeps the full 30-minute resolution, and it keeps the quality flags that mark estimated readings. When you only want to read totals yourself, choose the simpler CSV.

Format facts worth knowing before you choose:

  • Victorian Energy Compare: this web portal from the Victorian Government requires NEM12 CSV.
  • Solar tools: PVOutput, SolarPlus, SolarProof, Pylon, and OpenSolar accept NEM12 CSV, and none of them require it.
  • Interval data or totals: NEM12 carries Interval Data, and NEM13 carries accumulation totals — see how to choose NEM12 vs NEM13.
  • Spreadsheet reading: a raw NEM12 CSV file does not open as a clean table. See our guide to opening NEM12 data in a spreadsheet.

On the Victorian MyEnergy portal, the option you select decides the file you receive. Powercor, Citipower, and United Energy share this portal.

MyEnergy portal options (Powercor, Citipower, United Energy):

  • DETAILED or VECFORMAT: the portal provides 30-Minute Interval Data in NEM12 CSV Format.
  • SUMMARY: the portal provides monthly totals in CSV Format.

Step 4 — Log In to Your Electricity Distributor by State

Each state and territory has its own distributors. The links below are the official entry points. Open the portal for your state, register with your NMI, and download the file.

Lookup your DNSP using:

Postcode Suburb NMI

Victorian Electricity Distributors

If you do not know which Distributor serves your address, use the official Victorian lookup:

In Victoria, these DNSP portals supply 30-Minute Interval Data from your smart meter:

NSW Electricity Distributors

To confirm which DNSP serves your postcode, use one of these lookups:

These NSW distributors publish meter data access points:

SA Electricity Distributors

SA Power Networks operates almost the entire South Australian distribution network:

QLD Electricity Distributors

Queensland has two distributors. Energex covers the south-east, and Ergon Energy covers regional Queensland. Both accept meter data requests through their portals or by email.

Ergon Energy typically holds data back to 1 January 2017.

ACT Electricity Distributors

Evoenergy operates the distribution network in the Australian Capital Territory:

Tasmanian Electricity Distributors

TasNetworks operates the entire Tasmanian distribution network. TasNetworks does not offer a customer-facing Meter Portal. In Tasmania, contact your Electricity Retailer to request 30-Minute Interval Data.

Northern Territory Electricity Distributors

Power and Water Corporation operates the entire Northern Territory distribution network. To request 30-Minute Interval Data, start here:

Western Australian Electricity Distributors

Western Australia sits outside the National Electricity Market. Western Power operates metro Perth and the south-west interconnected system, and Horizon Power operates regional Western Australia. Synergy is the dominant Electricity Retailer.

These are the WA meter data access points:

The other guides in this series sit on the smart meter interval data hub.

Lookup your DNSP using:

Postcode Suburb NMI

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Do I need my NMI Number before I start? Yes. Every DNSP Meter Portal asks for the NMI at registration, so find a recent electricity bill first.
  • Where on my bill is the NMI printed? Usually on page 1 or page 2, under a heading such as "Your electricity supply details". The NMI is the 10 or 11 digit National Metering Identifier, not your account number.
  • Why does my NMI have only 10 digits? Bills often omit the 11th check digit. Some Meter Portals require all 11 digits, and the NMI Checksum Digit Calculator calculates the missing one.
  • Can Energy Made Easy tell me my NMI? No. The federal government Energy Made Easy tool requires you to enter your NMI in advance.
  • Which is better, the DNSP Meter Portal or an Electricity Retailer request? Try the DNSP Meter Portal first, because it is self-serve and usually faster. Use the Electricity Retailer when your state has no portal, or when the portal does not list your address.
  • Is my Electricity Retailer obliged to give me my Smart Meter Data? Yes. Both your Electricity Retailer and your Electricity Distributor must give you access to the data on request.
  • How long does a retailer request take? Up to 10 business days is typical for a manual Electricity Retailer request.
  • Do Electricity Retailers charge for meter data requests? Some do. AGL, for example, charges a fee after about four manual requests in 12 months.
  • Which file format do I download, NEM12 CSV or a simpler CSV? Choose NEM12 CSV when a third-party tool must read the file. Choose the simpler CSV when you only want to read totals in a spreadsheet.
  • What is NEM12? NEM12 is one of AEMO's data exchange formats for Interval Data in the National Electricity Market. DNSPs and retailers supply it because it is well defined and readily available.
  • Which tools require NEM12 CSV? The Victorian Energy Compare portal, run by the Victorian Government, requires NEM12 CSV. PVOutput, SolarPlus, SolarProof, Pylon, and OpenSolar accept it but do not require it.
  • Which MyEnergy option gives 30-Minute Interval Data for Powercor customers? Select DETAILED or VECFORMAT. The SUMMARY option provides monthly totals in CSV Format instead.
  • How long after installation does a new smart meter produce data? Allow up to 10 business days after installation before 30-Minute Interval Data appears in your Meter Portal.
  • How far back does the historical Interval Data go? Most DNSPs hold 12 to 24 months. Energex and Ergon Energy in Queensland typically hold data back to 1 January 2017.
  • Does Tasmania have a DNSP Meter Portal? No. TasNetworks does not offer a customer-facing Meter Portal, so Tasmanian customers request the data from their Electricity Retailer.
  • Is DNSP short for "Distributed Network Service Provider"? Some sources write it that way, but AEMO uses Distribution Network Service Provider. Both spellings name your Electricity Distributor.

Lookup your DNSP using:

Postcode Suburb NMI

Glossary

30-Minute Interval Data
The standard half-hourly resolution at which Australian smart meters record electricity import and export. NEM12 CSV is typically supplied with 30 Minute Intervals.
AEMO
Australian Energy Market Operator — the body that administers the National Electricity Market and defines and maintains the NEM12 specification.
AusNet
The Victorian DNSP covering eastern Victoria; operates the My Home Energy portal for residential Interval Data downloads.
Check Digit
The 11th digit of a full NMI — calculated from the first ten digits to detect transcription errors; some DNSP portals require it. Also called a 'Checksum'.
CSV
Comma-Separated Values — a plain text file in which each row is a record and fields are separated by commas.
Distribution Network Service Provider
See DNSP.
DNSP
Distribution Network Service Provider - the company that owns and operates the physical poles and wires of the local electricity network, and usually provides the smart meter data portal. Not the same as your Electricity Retailer. See also: Electricity Retailer.
Electricity Distributor
See DNSP.
Electricity Retailer
The company that sells electricity to the consumer, issues the bill, and manages the account. Not the same as your DNSP (Distribution Network Service Provider) which owns and operates the network. See also: DNSP.
Interval Data
Energy readings recorded at fixed time steps — typically every 30 minutes (but sometimes 5 or 15 minutes on newer meters) rather than as a single billing total. This allows charging different Tariffs at different times of day or days of the week. See also: Time-of-Use (TOU) Tariff.
kW
KiloWatt — the standard unit of (Electrical) Power: 1,000 Watts of Power used continuously for one hour is equivalent to 1000 Watt-Hours or 1 KiloWatt-Hour of Energy. Power is not an Amount of Energy but a Rate of Energy Transfer. See also: kWh.
kWh
KiloWatt-Hour — the standard unit of (Electrical) Energy: 1,000 Watts of Power used continuously for one hour is equivalent to 1000 Watt-Hours or 1 KiloWatt-Hour. NEM12 CSV records Electricity Use in kWh. See also: kW.
Meter Portal
An online portal operated by a DNSP (or retailer) where customers can log in to view and download their Smart Meter Data. See also: DNSP, Electricity Retailer.
NEM
The Australian National Electricity Market — the interconnected electricity grid covering Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. Western Australia and the Northern Territory operate separate grids.
NEM12
The AEMO file format (version 12) for exchanging Interval Data from Smart Meters across the Australian National Electricity Market (NEM). NEM12 Format records the Amount of Energy per Time Interval in kWh. And also other types of data, using specific types of labelled rows or records (100, 200, 300, 400, 900) to record different types of data. This makes it a 'Semi-Structured' 'Non-Tabular' Format. See also: AEMO, NEM, kWh, Semi-Structured, Non-Tabular.
NEM12 CSV
A NEM12 File stored as comma-separated values — the form most DNSP and retailer portals distribute. See also: NEM12, CSV.
NMI
National Metering Identifier — the unique 10-digit identifier for an electricity connection point (11 with the Check Digit), permanent to the property. Note that the electricity connection point identified by the NMI, typically has multiple NMI Suffixes, and can have multiple Physical Meters. See also: Check Digit, NMI Suffix.
NMI Number
See NMI.
NMI Suffix
In the NEM12 Format, the short two-character code (E1, E2, E3, B1, B2, Q1, K1) identifying a specific Meter Register for recording electricity flows on the mains electricity connection identified by that NMI — also called the Meter Register or Register Code. See also: NMI, NEM12.
Non-Tabular
Data that does not fit a single consistent grid — in NEM12's case because of its semi-structure, hierarchy and mixed-record layout.
Powercor
One of the five DNSPs in Victoria Australia, covering western Victoria, and the operator of the MyEnergy portal shared with Citipower and United Energy. See also: DNSP.
Quality Flag
In the NEM12 Format, a single-letter code on each interval reading showing how the value was obtained — e.g. A (Actual), E (Estimated), S (Substituted), F (Final Substitute). See also: NEM12.
Semi-Structured
A data format that follows strict syntactic rules (e.g. comma separation, defined record codes) but does not enforce a consistent column schema across all rows. NEM12 is a Semi-Structured Format. See also: NEM12.
Smart Meter Data
Electricity import and export readings recorded by a digital interval meter at regular intervals. In Australia, typically supplied in NEM12 CSV Format with 30 Minute Intervals. See also: NEM12 CSV.
Time-of-Use (TOU) Tariff
A tariff with different prices at different times of day or days of the week (Peak, Shoulder, Off-Peak).

Lookup your DNSP using:

Postcode Suburb NMI