Smart meter texas integration not working since Feb 19 2PM

[hnjoshi]

The problem

Unable to fetch data from smart meter texas:

Logger: homeassistant.components.smart_meter_texas.config_flow
Source: components/smart_meter_texas/config_flow.py:64
integration: Smart Meter Texas ([documentation](https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/smart_meter_texas), [issues](https://github.com/home-assistant/core/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22integration%3A+smart_meter_texas%22))
First occurred: 3:09:39 PM (2 occurrences)
Last logged: 3:12:03 PM

Unexpected exception
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/components/smart_meter_texas/config_flow.py", line 64, in async_step_user
    info = await validate_input(self.hass, user_input)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/src/homeassistant/homeassistant/components/smart_meter_texas/config_flow.py", line 41, in validate_input
    await client.authenticate()
  File "/usr/local/lib/python3.13/site-packages/smart_meter_texas/__init__.py", line 296, in authenticate
    raise SmartMeterTexasRateLimitError(
        "Reached ratelimit or brute force protection"
    )
smart_meter_texas.exceptions.SmartMeterTexasRateLimitError: Reached ratelimit or brute force protection

Since yesterday 2pm the integration has not been able to pull the data.
I tried reload/restart/re-setup the integration but all failed with above error message.

When I try to get current meter data on smart meter texas website it works fine.

What version of Home Assistant Core has the issue?

core-2025.2.4

What was the last working version of Home Assistant Core?

No response

What type of installation are you running?

Home Assistant OS

Integration causing the issue

Smart Meter Texas

Link to integration documentation on our website

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/smart_meter_texas

Diagnostics information

No response

Example YAML snippet

Anything in the logs that might be useful for us?

Additional information

No response

[home-assistant]

Hey there @grahamwetzler, mind taking a look at this issue as it has been labeled with an integration (smart_meter_texas) you are listed as a code owner for? Thanks!

Code owner commands

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• @home-assistant unassign smart_meter_texas Removes the current integration label and assignees on the issue, add the integration domain after the command.
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[BigBill2000]

Same issue with me, stopped yesterday at 2pm.

smart_meter_texas.exceptions.SmartMeterTexasRateLimitError: Reached ratelimit or brute force protection

[pickscrape]

This also happens when attempting to use this integration for the first time (same "Reached ratelimit or brute force protection" error).

[zkmusa]

Same issue for me at the same time. Review of logs shows the same error.

[swa11ace-817]

Same, stopped around 2pm Central

[jimmyhon]

Looks like Smart Meter Texas started using Akamai Bot Manager again.

https://www.zenrows.com/blog/bypass-akamai#what-is-bot-detection-software

I can not make curl requests anymore to https://www.smartmetertexas.com/commonapi/user/authenticate without the cookies _abck.

Note: Successful authentication will give back an JWT that expires 2 hours later. The other API endpoints don't need the Bot Manager cookies.

[challgren]

Same issue here, I emailed and they told me the website is not for scraping

[Indianb0y016]

Same issue here, I emailed and they told me the website is not for scraping

Fair enough I guess, BUT, the official API has been stuck in "not done" for the last two years now. If they want people to stop scraping data, they need to finish the API and allow people to use it. Its been like this for the last two years now with no changes.
At this point, the best course of action is to implement a local on-site energy monitoring solution at the breaker panel.