Meter read notifications
In 2024, we trialled sending a small group of customers a heads up ahead of their meter reading over a six-month period. The feedback was clear — people valued the heads-up.
We’re now rolling this out to all customers. From now on, you’ll get an email about a week before we come to read your meter, so you know we’re on the way.
Please ensure that the path to your meter is clear and that pets are secured.
Not to worry, our meter readers will proceed with the read as long as they can access the meter.
We will leave a 'skipped read' card with further instructions, or you may opt to self-read your meter.
On our end, each meter is assigned a scheduled read date with a permissible window of one business day before and two business days after this date. This approach not only supports the smooth management of our resources but also helps us adhere to energy market rules. This flexible window also allows us to account for any unforeseen
circumstances and manage staffing levels. For your convenience, we'll notify you a week in advance of the 4-day window.
For the safety of our Meter Reading staff and to ensure a smooth reading process, it's crucial that dogs are not in the vicinity of the meter during the reading. If you have a dog, please ensure they are isolated and cannot access the meter area - holding your dog back is not adequate. If a meter reading is missed due to a dog on the property, and you believe access is not an issue, you can provide a 'dog declaration' to either your retailer or directly to us. This helps us update our records and avoid unnecessary reading delays.
If you're interested in becoming a self-reader, the process starts with your energy retailer. Please contact them to request this service, and they will forward your request to us in the form of a Site Access service order. This approach ensures that your self-reading setup aligns with our processes and provides you with all the information you need to get started.
That’s fine. You can opt out at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe option at the bottom of the notification email.
Customer Communications
Western Power may contact customers by email, letter, phone or SMS relating to any of the below:
- Planned works / planned outages
- During a power outage
- Land access for private power poles and Western Power infrastructure maintenance
- Electrical Inspector calls to your house
- To respond to any of the below:
- Customer enquiries
- Applications for new customer connections, network services and aerial visual covers
- Meter service requests and annual meter reading
- Embedded generation applications and registrations
- Planning Applications referred to us and requests for clearance
- Customer surveys / feedback
Further details:
Planned works / planned outages
We will let you know if any of our planned works / planned outages affect your property as soon as possible by email, SMS or a letter to your home or business. Planned Works / Planned Outages FAQs
During a power outage
During a power outage you may receive SMS notifications regarding the outage and estimated restoration times. If you have not already signed up to SMS notifications, register for SMS notifications here
Land access for private power poles and Western Power infrastructure maintenance
Our power poles and wires need to be inspected regularly to make sure they are safe and do not pose a risk to individuals and communities. This requires our crews to access your property to assess the condition of our power poles and carry out infrastructure maintenance. Read more about accessing your property
Electrical inspector calls to your house
Electrical Systems Inspectors (ESI) have authority to access premises without notice for the purposes of ensuring the safety of electrical installations. All of our inspectors have police clearance and must carry identification to confirm their authenticity. Read more about safety and access inspections
To respond to your customer queries
If you contacted us with a query by email, social media or letter then our customer service team will call you back to assist with your request.
Customer new connections / reconnections
If you have lodged a request for a new connection / reconnection we will be in touch to discuss your application. Follow this link if you wish to submit and online application or have a query relating to a connection service.
In addition, we may contact you relating to Requests for Visual Aerial Covers or Service Requests for New Connections and Network Services.
Meter service requests and annual meter reading
Western Power will contact you by letter if your meter needs to be replaced. In addition, we follow strict protocols when entering your property. All authorised Western Power staff and contractors carry formal identification provided by Western Power. Read more metering FAQs here
Regarding the services that Western Power provides, there are a few different paths when it comes to requesting payment.
- Before the job – This is at the time of booking a service, the customer request is booked online through Western Power portal (payment via credit card)
- After the job – An invoice will be sent out to the customer requesting payment to be made. Our team do make calls on occasion depending on the size of the debt and if they are a company/business.
To receive timely updates during power outages it’s important we have your correct contact details. That is why we regularly check our records for any incorrect or missing information. If we don’t have an accurate mobile number for you, we will send you an email similar to the example below. All information we collect is used in accordance with our Privacy policy.
No. This is not a service that Western Power offers. If you are thinking about getting solar panels installed refer to our article what to look for in a reliable solar installer in Perth
Our SMS and email notifications will come to you directly from a Western Power mobile phone or email account.
The email has your notification letter attached as a PDF document.
Remember, you can choose whether you receive your planned outage notifications via email, SMS or mail. The default method is email, followed by SMS and finally mail. Call us on 13 10 87 to change your preference.
Power outage SMS notifications
We expanded our power outage SMS notification service to over one million residential customers in December 2022.
This service forms part of several enhancements being made to improve communication to our customers during power outages. Feedback from customers strongly supported sending SMS updates about power outages affecting them.
As a residential electricity account holder, you will receive these SMS notifications by default using the mobile number linked to your account
Our outage updates will be sent via SMS from a Western Power mobile number. Every update you receive will come from that same number.
During a power outage we send SMS notifications to keep you updated on our progress and estimated restoration times. These updates include (but are not limited to);
- Notification that your power is out
- Updates / changes to estimated restoration times
- Notification when your power is back on
The residential electricity account holder will receive these SMS notifications by default. If you are not the account holder but would also like to receive updates you can register your details on our power outages page.
Please note:
Due to the nature of these messages, you may sometimes receive an update late at night or early morning.
If you are the electricity account holder, we may not be aware of the outage or the mobile number we have on file may not be correct. Please check or report the outage via our power outages page or contact us on 13 13 51.
If you are not the electricity account holder but would like to receive updates you can register your details on our power outages page.
For our residential customers, we use the mobile number that you have linked to your Synergy electricity account by default, so it’s best to make sure these details are correct. Our outage updates will be sent via SMS from a Western Power mobile number so you know it's us.
If you are not the account holder but would like to receive updates you can register for SMS notifications on our power outages page.
We regularly check our records for any incorrect or missing information. If we don’t have an accurate mobile number for you, we will send you an email asking you to update it. See Why am I receiving an email asking me to update my mobile number? for more information.
To further manage your preferences please call us on 13 10 87.
Business accounts will not receive SMS notifications by default as we don’t know the best person to contact during a power outage. If you would like to receive updates for your business please register the address on our power outages page.
Yes! We understand that you may have multiple people who want to stay informed about any updates. Register for SMS notifications.