Public annotation – Smart meters, EMF health concerns, and regulatory accountability (FYI evidence map)

This request forms part of a wider, multi-agency Official Information Act record examining how smart meter safety, electromagnetic field (EMF) health concerns, and incident reporting are governed in New Zealand, and which agencies hold (or do not hold) responsibility.

Across multiple OIA responses, agencies have consistently confirmed that no single authority maintains a consolidated health-risk, incident, or complaint dataset relating to smart meters. Oversight is distributed across regulators, standards bodies, health agencies, and industry participants.

To assist readers, investigators, and journalists, the following related FYI.org.nz OIAs provide the full public record on this issue:

⸻

Core Electricity Authority requests
• FYI #31857 – Smart meter safety assessments and incident records
(Electricity Authority confirmation of no EMF/health risk assessments, no Clause 11.27 enforcement, and limited health-related correspondence)
• FYI #31924 – Approved Smart Meter Type List, test standards, and fault statistics
(Regulatory reliance on standards compliance rather than health monitoring)
• FYI #32191 – Smart meter RF/EMF assessments and website substantiation
(Basis for public-facing safety statements)

⸻

Health and science agencies
• FYI #31855 – EMF and smart meter health assessments (ESR / PHF Science)
(Scope of scientific input and limits of health agency involvement)
• FYI #33287 – EMF health risk guidance and internal briefings
(Confirmation that no dedicated internal EMF health briefings are held)

⸻

Policy and market oversight
• FYI #31858 – Smart meter rollout, funding, and health-related oversight (MBIE)
(MBIE role limited to market and policy functions)
• FYI #33288 – MBIE smart meter safety guidelines and oversight
(Absence of ministry-held smart-meter health guidance)

⸻

Cross-cutting and comparative context
• FYI #32794 – Advanced electricity meters (smart meters): safety incidents, standards, and record-keeping
(Consolidated governance and accountability context)

⸻

What the combined OIA record shows

Taken together, these requests establish that:
• No regulator conducts or holds EMF/health risk assessments specific to smart meters.
• Health-related enquiries are not tracked as a structured dataset.
• Enforcement pathways focus on technical and market compliance, not health outcomes.
• Responsibility is fragmented, with no agency holding end-to-end accountability for health concerns.

The newly submitted follow-on OIA builds on this record by targeting the accountability gap directly, using narrow, governance-level questions designed to avoid substantial collation and research refusals.

This annotation is provided to assist public understanding of how smart-meter safety and EMF concerns are currently handled within New Zealand’s regulatory system.

Smart meters, EMF health concerns, and who is accountable in New Zealand

What is the issue?
Over several years, New Zealanders have raised concerns about potential health effects (including electromagnetic fields, or EMF) and safety issues associated with smart electricity meters. Multiple Official Information Act (OIA) requests across government agencies show that no single agency holds end-to-end responsibility for assessing, monitoring, or responding to health-related concerns about smart meters.

What the OIA record shows
A coordinated set of OIAs on FYI.org.nz confirms a consistent pattern:
• No regulator holds EMF or health risk assessments specific to smart meters.
• No central incident or complaint register exists for health-related smart meter concerns.
• Enforcement frameworks focus on technical and market compliance, not health outcomes.
• Responsibility is fragmented across electricity regulators, health agencies, and policy bodies.

Who does what (and what they don’t do)
• Electricity Authority confirms it does not conduct or hold health or EMF risk assessments, does not track health-related complaints in a structured way, and has taken no enforcement action where health concerns were a factor.
• Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment states its role is policy and market oversight, not safety or health risk evaluation of smart meters.
• Ministry of Health confirms it does not hold internal EMF health guidance or smart-meter-specific health risk assessments.
• ESR has provided limited scientific input historically, but does not operate an ongoing monitoring or risk-assessment programme for smart meters.

Why this matters
Smart meters are now a near-universal national infrastructure. The absence of a clearly accountable agency for health-related concerns means:
• citizens have no clear pathway for escalation;
• policymakers lack evidence-based assurance; and
• regulators rely heavily on international standards without domestic monitoring or audit.

What happens next
A newly submitted, tightly scoped follow-on OIA seeks to quantify health-related enquiries, confirm what records actually exist, and test whether historical correspondence (including 2012 ESR advice used in public safety statements) is fully retained. The outcome will further clarify whether the current accountability gap is one of governance design or record-keeping failure

SMART METERS & EMF – ACCOUNTABILITY MAP (NZ)

┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ Electricity Authority (EA) │
│ Role: Electricity market │
│ regulation & Code enforcement│
│ │
│ CONFIRMED GAPS: │
│ • No EMF/health risk reviews │
│ • No health incident register │
│ • No health-based enforcement │
└───────────────┬──────────────┘
│
│ relies on
▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ Technical standards & │
│ industry compliance │
│ (meter owners, distributors) │
│ │
│ CONFIRMED GAPS: │
│ • No public health oversight │
│ • No transparency on health │
│ complaints or outcomes │
└───────────────┬──────────────┘
│
│ not overseen by
▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ Ministry of Health (MoH) │
│ Role: Public health policy │
│ │
│ CONFIRMED GAPS: │
│ • No smart meter EMF guidance │
│ • No internal health briefings│
│ • No monitoring of exposure │
└───────────────┬──────────────┘
│
│ limited historical input
▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ ESR / PHF Science │
│ Role: Scientific advice │
│ │
│ CONFIRMED GAPS: │
│ • No ongoing assessment role │
│ • No incident or exposure │
│ monitoring programme │
└───────────────┬──────────────┘
│
│ policy interface only
▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ MBIE │
│ Role: Policy & market design │
│ │
│ CONFIRMED GAPS: │
│ • No safety or health testing │
│ • No EMF risk evaluation │
└──────────────────────────────┘

RESULT:
No single agency holds end-to-end responsibility for
health risk assessment, monitoring, or accountability
for smart meters in New Zealand.