NT government reveals scale of bungled smart meter rollout

The Northern Territory's main energy retailer has revealed thousands more customers than previously thought have been affected by delays in billing due to the botched rollout of smart meters.

Jacana Energy chief executive Jo Conway revealed the scale of the bungle during an appearance at budget estimates in the NT parliament today.

In response to a question from independent MLA Robyn Lambley about the number of Jacana customers affected by billing delays, Ms Conway said: "Initially the billing delays that were expected were around 3,000 customers, which we knew about in July, 2025.

"That's extended to around 5,000 customers."

In March, Alice Springs residents told the ABC their power had been unexpectedly switched off by Jacana after the organisation failed to send them bills for months.

At the time, Jacana said "a small number" of customers had received their bills late "due to technical issues" within the retailer's billing processes last year, but that those issues had been resolved.

Ms Conway also revealed Jacana had switched off power to 1,995 customers — 1,842 homes and 153 small businesses — during the 2025-26 financial year, and was owed more than $33 million in unpaid power bills as of April.

Jacana, which is owned by the NT government, is by far the largest energy retailer in the NT, its only competitor being the privately owned Rimfire Energy.

Smart meter data 'not transmitted'

Power and Water Corporation (PWC), also owned by the NT government, is the body responsible for maintaining energy infrastructure, distributing electricity, and providing meter reading data to energy retailers in the territory.

During estimates today, PWC representatives admitted that energy usage data from smart meters had not been regularly supplied to Jacana, affecting the retailer's ability to bill customers.

"We've had to upgrade our meters to smart meters ... and there have been some technical problems in putting that in place," PWC chair Peter Wilson said.

Smart meters are supposed to record energy use in five or 30-minute intervals, and automatically send that data to the energy retailer, unlike a traditional meter which requires data to be collected manually.

PWC's rollout of the technology across the NT is ongoing and is set to be completed by 2030.

Ms Lambley questioned PWC over the case of a single mother in her Alice Springs electorate who was faced with a bill she was unable to pay late last year, after months of not being billed.

"It was only late in the day that I realised that Power and Water were actually the entity more responsible for the failure to bill than Jacana," she said.

"That's correct, isn't it?"

"If Jacana didn't have the data ... they can't bill,"

Mr Wilson replied.

PWC executive general manager Michael Besselink said: "We do take our share of the blame for all of this."

"[We] are working very hard ... so that these things don't continue on."

Ms Lambley asked whether there was "any effort — maybe working with Jacana — to make amends to those customers that were placed in extraordinary hardship".

PWC chief executive Djuna Pollard responded that it was "the retailer at the end of the day that issues the electricity bill".

Asked whether the issue with smart meter billing would continue given the ongoing rollout, Jacana Energy chair Trevor James said: "It shouldn't do, no."