Getting your meter data from SA Power Networks

Verified 16 October 2026

If you live in South Australia, SA Power Networks runs the poles and wires, whoever bills you. It also runs a self-service website called Your Energy Dashboard. You register once and download your own half-hourly file, usually in a few minutes. You don't have to wait for a retailer to answer a request.

The steps

1. Open Your Energy Dashboard and choose Register.
2. The form asks for your first name, last name, a phone number (a mobile is preferred) and an email address. Your email address becomes your username. You also accept the terms. SA Power Networks says registration is free.
3. Log in and add your meter number (NMI). It is the number labelled NMI on your electricity bill. SA Power Networks' own help says to find it on your account from your electricity provider. Keep your latest bill handy while you do this.
4. Choose Request Meter Data and pick a report type. If your meter records intervals, pick Detailed format (csv). This is the one with half-hourly readings.
5. If the page lets you choose dates, choose the last 12 months. A full year covers every season.
6. The file can take up to a minute to prepare, then it downloads by itself. Your browser may ask where to save it.

What to watch for

• Pick Detailed, not Summary. The Summary formats are totals. Only the Detailed format has the 30 minute, 15 minute or 5 minute readings. We can read any of them. A Summary file is no use to us.
• An older meter has no half hours. SA Power Networks says that if your meter is an accumulation meter, only the Summary formats are offered. There is no half-hourly record to send. Your bill-based answer still stands on its own.
• Detailed is your meter data file (NEM12). SA Power Networks describes it as an abridged version of the standard file. It is the format we read.
• How far back it goes. The terms say the data available will generally not be more than two years.
• Accuracy and cost. The terms say the data may sometimes be incomplete or later corrected. They also say SA Power Networks may charge for the service and would tell you before it did.
• Looking after someone else's account? You need their consent first. SA Power Networks has a separate form for authorised representatives.
• Stuck? SA Power Networks lists general enquiries on 13 12 61.

When the file arrives

Open your PowerLens report and choose Add meter data, free. Upload the file as it arrived, without opening and saving it in Excel first. No report yet? Start with your bill.

If our upload can't read the file, it will say so. What a good file looks like.

Other networks are in the full list. Back to the guides.