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This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Official Information request 'Official Information Act Request – Advanced Electricity Meters (Smart Meters): Safety Incidents, Test Standards & Record-Keeping (2015–2022)'.

1982
Act 
Information 
Official 
the 
under 
Released 
Brand 
Smart meter 
Equipment type 
Smartmeter (Electricity revenue meters) 
Rating 
Model number 
7CH-A152-19-F211-7F02-1010 
Country of manufacture 
Other details 
Smart meter - 7CH-A152-19-F211-7F02-1010 - Serial No 9(2)(a) privacy - Meter 
No 9(2)(a) privacy- also had a tag on it , Vircom EMS Barcode number on tag  
9(2)(a) privacy  - Other Information on Meter: VIRCOM EMS date of Installation 
23/03/10 Technician GC - ICP 9(2)(a) privacy address  S9(2)(a) Privacy  Date 
of Retest 23/0325 Certificate Serial A242566 
1982
Voltage 
230 
Victim 
Incl. in Reporting 
Yes 
Act 
No casualty 
Address 
S9(2)(a) Privacy
Town/City 
Lower Hutt 
Property Loss 
No property loss 
Investigation summary (investigation) 
Property loss 
Event type 
Other/Unknown (Electrical) 
Other losses 
Legal assessment 
Accidents (Non-notifiable) 
Information 
Investigation 
Lead agency  
Energy Safety 
Investigation type 
Incident 
Environment 
Building 
Investigation Started 5 
Site type 
Commercial 
November 2018 
Official 
FENZ - Notified that power equipment in the building was not working correctly, hair dresser occupier, electrician 
called to site, electrical meter appeared to crackling, and also LCD screen was going to al  00000 then restarted, 
the 
no visible burning showing in back of meter. Similar incidents have been attended before and FENZ was told 
there may have been a fault in a batch of meters.  
Smart meter - 7CH-A152-19-F211-7F02-1010 - Serial No 9(2)(a) privacy - Meter No 9(2)(a) privacy- also had a tag on 
it  
under 
, Vircom EMS Barcode number on tag 9(2)(a) privacy  - Other Information on Meter was VIRCOM EMS date of  
Installation 23/03/10 Technician GC - ICP 9(2)(a) privacy address  S9(2)(a) Privacy  Date of Retest 23/0325 
Certificate Serial A242566 
Released 
Page 2 of 5 
10:33:02am 
26/11/2025 
ES contacted the meter owner, Vector-AMS, and investigated the apparently faulty meter and looked into the 
claim of the “faulty meter batch” from our technical services team.  
Confirmed by phone conversation with 
 t
S9(2)(a) Privacy hat there is no batch of meters that had faults. 
 al
S9(2)(a) Privacy so emailed the fol ow points though for this incident; our technician reported that: 
• He found the power on-site fluctuating, so that when load was applied by using appliances in the shop the
voltage dropped significantly, causing the old circuit breakers on the meter board to crackle/hiss.
• The meter itself did not make any sound, but when the voltage dropped the meter display went blank (as would
be expected).
• The network operator contractor could not initial y locate the supply to the shop but eventually found this on the
roof.
• The network fuse on the roof had deteriorated significantly - probably due to exposure to the elements - so that
it could no longer supply power to the site under load.
• The meter did not show any sign of being faulty and there was no sign of the meter overheating.
1982
Causal Factor 
Party Factor 
Third Party 
Equipment Factor  Malfunction 
Act 
Work Practice 
Operation 
Environment 
Other 
Factor 
Description of causal factors 
The meter did not show any sign of being faulty and there was no sign of the meter overheating. 
The power fluctuations were caused by a deteriorated network fuse on the roof of the building. 
Summary of Event (Public) 
Information 
FENZ notified WorkSafe NZ of a potential electrical fire incident at a hairdresser's premises involving the 
revenue meter. 
Investigation Outcome (Public) 
Fire and Emergency NZ investigated a potential fire with a revenue meter in a switch board when the 
Official 
occupier heard crackling noises  that appeared to be coming form the switchboard. The occupier was 
alerted to the issue when the electrical equipment with the premise was not operating correctly.  
A metering technician was called to the site to examine the revenue meter and found that there was 
the 
power fluctuations within the electrical installation. The fluctuations were caused by a deteriorated 
network fuse on the roof of the building. The technician did not find any evidence that the meter was 
faulty, the crackling sound was the result of the power fluctuations, however as a precaution only the 
meter was replaced with a new one. 
under 
The local Network contractor carried out remedial work to repair the deteriorated network fuse. 
Event Note:
Created 
17/10/2018   9:26:00am 
Owner name 
David McLaughlan 
Filename 
Released 
Subject 
Note created on 17/10/2018 9:26 a.m. by  S9(2)(a) Privacy
Page 3 of 5 
10:33:02am 
26/11/2025 

1982
Act 
Information 
Official 
the 
under 
Released 
What were their address(es) and telephone number(s)? 
When was the contact made? 
Verification: Please type the word ''complaint'' 
complaint 
Created 
17/10/2018   4:56:00pm 
Owner name 
David McLaughlan 
Filename 
ICP 000009(2)(a) privacy 
.msg 
S9(2)(a) Privacy
Subject 
File Attachment 
Note 
5/11/2018  12:10:00pm 
Created 
David McLaughlan 
Owner name 
1982
ICP 000009(2)(a) privacy 
 L
S9(2)(a) Privacyower Hutt .msg 
Filename 
File Attachment 
Act 
Subject 
Note 
5/11/2018  12:11:00pm 
Created 
David McLaughlan 
Owner name 
RE ICP 000009(2)(a) privacy 
 Lo
S9(2)(a) Privacy wer Hutt UNCLASSIFIED.msg 
Information 
Filename 
File Attachment 
Subject 
Note 
Official 
the 
under 
Released 
Page 5 of 5 
10:33:02am 
26/11/2025