UMVA has learned that a groundbreaking collaboration between Origin Energy and Landis+Gyr is set to revolutionize gas metering in Australia, bringing IoT-based smart gas capabilities to existing metering assets.
The innovative project aims to enable remote readings and more timely usage data without replacing meters, a significant step forward in the country's move towards connected infrastructure. Gas metering has traditionally lagged behind electricity in this regard, largely due to the widespread distribution and battery dependence of gas meters.
According to information obtained by UMVA, Landis+Gyr will deploy intelligent IoT modules, communications technology, and a data management platform across Origin's existing metering assets over an 18-month period. This ambitious project covers households and businesses served by Origin's gas network and marks one of Australia's first large-scale efforts to digitize gas network operations across an entire customer base.
What sets this announcement apart is the approach taken by Landis+Gyr – adding IoT modules to existing gas meters, enabling remote meter readings and near real-time data insights while leaving the underlying metering assets intact. This retrofit model, rather than a meter replacement program, is a game-changer for gas networks.
By extending the digital life of installed assets, this project simplifies customer access requirements, limits installation disruption, and preserves capital already invested in field hardware. The companies have also assured that the upgrade will be delivered without disruption to customers' LPG supply, a significant operational consideration.
The immediate benefits for customers are clear: fewer manual reads and fewer estimated bills. However, the larger IoT implication is the shift towards a more automated operating model for gas usage information, allowing utilities and energy retailers to improve billing timeliness and data accuracy.
As the project progresses, it will highlight the growing role of the data management layer in utility IoT deployments. The value of adding modules to meters depends on how reliably readings are collected, transmitted, processed, and made available to operational systems.
This development has far-reaching implications for the wider IoT ecosystem, signaling that gas networks are now being pulled into the same digital operations model as electricity, where remote visibility and data availability become core service capabilities.
The success of this rollout could also support broader deployment across approximately two million Landis+Gyr gas meters already installed in Australia, providing a template for digitizing existing gas metering assets without large-scale network replacement.
Ultimately, this project showcases a deployment model that can modernize gas metering by layering IoT, communications, and data management onto infrastructure already in the field, paving the way for a more efficient and connected future.
