Card operated meter customers

If you live in a remote community in regional Queensland, you might use a card operated meter for your power.

You add credit using a power card, so you decide when and how much you top up.

Orange card lost or not working?
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A guide to power cards

Power cards are made of plastic, with a smart chip inside for use with card-operated meters.

They’re reusable, so hang on to them and use the same card each time you add credit.

Choose the card that suits:

  1. Flexi for ANY house Your green card is ‘flexi’ so it can be used to add credit to a card operated meter at ANY house
  2. Linked for YOUR house Your orange card must be ‘linked’ with your meter, so it can be used at YOUR house only. Use it to receive the Queensland Government Electricity Rebate and any other credits you may be eligible for.

Orange Power Card

How to add credit to your meter

You need to add credit to your power cards before you use them.

Step 1: Add credit to your power card

  • Visit your local power card retailer
  • Choose the amount of credit you want to add:
    • Minimum of $20
    • Maximum of $200.
  • Your power card retailer can also tell you if you already have credit on your card.

Step 2: Transfer credit to your meter

  • Hold your card against the reader on the top left of the meter for about 4 seconds
  • The red and green lights will flash while your meter reads the card
  • Wait until you hear two short beeps and the green ‘card accepted’ light comes on
  • All of the credit held on the card will transfer to the meter in one go. You can’t add part of the credit from the card
  • The word ‘credit’ will show in the display screen
  • The amount of credit added will show next in the display screen.

    • That’s it. Your meter is topped up ✅

Step 3: Add more credit before you run out

  • An alarm sounds when your credit drops below $10
  • Press the blue B button to silence the alarm for 12 hours
  • Visit a power card retailer to:
    • Recharge your card
    • Transfer the credit to your meter again.

Read the terms and conditions of using reusable power cards.

View our guide to using reusable power cards (PDF 6.7 mb).

Where to recharge your power cards

You can recharge your power card at local power card sales agents in your community.

Want to find a sales agent near you? Read our list of sales agents where you can buy or recharge your power cards (PDF 96.3 kb).

Need a hand? We’ve got you

Please keep your power cards safe. If a card is lost or damaged, let us know  as soon as you can so we can help.

If you have any questions in relation to your card operated meter or power card, simply complete our online enquiry form below, and one of our regional Queensland team will be in touch.

Submit a card operated meter enquiry

Your power prices (tariffs)

If you use a card operated meter in a remote community, you pay the same electricity prices as customers across regional Queensland.

Tariffs available through card operated meters include:

  • Tariff 11 - The most common tariff for residential customers
  • Tariff 31 and Tariff 33 - Lower‑cost options for things like hot water systems that don’t need to power all day and night
  • Tariff 20 - For small businesses that use less than 100 megawatt hours of electricity each year.

Queensland Government Electricity Rebate

The Queensland Government Electricity Rebate is available to all households with a card operated meter.

How it works

The rebate is paid straight onto your orange ‘linked’ power card.

Payments come through when you recharge your card in:

  • July
  • October
  • January
  • April.

Want to learn more?

Our agreement with you

There’s a standard agreement that explains:

  • What we’ll do for you
  • What your responsibilities are.

It’s called the Standard Retail Contract for Card-Operated Meter Customers. (PDF 108.7 kb)

You don’t need to sign anything.
The contract automatically applies when you use a card‑operated meter.

If you’d like us to explain what it means, have a yarn with our regional Queensland team.