After meeting with the Consumer Utilities Advocacy Centre, the Victorian Council of Social Service and St Vincent de Paul, Mr Batchelor raised concerns about whether universal benefit would ensue from smart meter installation.

The smart meter employs a time-of-use pricing structure where customers are charged different rates at different times of the day. The moratorium has been put in place to investigate the impact of this pricing structure as well as to develop an education program surrounding the smart meters.

While the State Government still intends to install 2.5 million smart meters in private households and small businesses within the next four years, Mr Batchelor has suggested that the present moratorium will ensure that the transition is managed carefully.