Articles

On 13 August 2021, the Essential Services Commission (Victoria) served a penalty notice on IPower 2 Pty Limited and IPower Pty Limited (trading as Simply Energy). The Penalty notice can be viewed here. Most energy providers are aware of the processes they must undertake before disconnecting a customer's energy supply. The Penalty Notice in this case cites a wrongful disconnection contravention within the meaning of s 54E of the Act: S54E (definitions) wrongful disconnection contraventionmeans a contravention referred to in section 54H(1)(c); Section 54E cites 54H(1)(c) identifies “conduct that requires compliance with the Energy Retail Code”. The Energy Retail Code itself at clause 118 states: Request for de-energisationIf a customer requests the retailer to arrange for de-energisation of the customer’s premises, the retailer must use its best endeavours to arrange for: de-energisation…

On 8 October 2021, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) announced that, in response to an investigation, Alinta Energy have substantially improved its systems and was waiving more than $1 million in energy debt owed by more than 400 of its customers.  The outcome arose as a result of an investigation carried out by the AER into alleged non-compliance with Alinta Energy’s obligations with respect to vulnerable customers and its hardship program. The AER was concerned that during the period September 2019 to March 2020, Alinta Energy may have required vulnerable customers to make upfront payments or to seek financial counselling in circumstances where it should have offered those customer’s access to payment plans or assistance under Alinta’s hardship program.  Furthermore, the AER alleged that in some cases Alinta Energy had wrongfully…

On 1 August 2021, the new obligations regarding life support came into effect. These obligations were made pursuant to a rule change published by the AEMC in February 2021. The aim of the new rules is to clarify the responsibilities between retailers and distributors to ensure the accuracy of life support registers. The AER has now published an 11 page guide (the Guide), which although has no legal force, provides information on the following areas: the customer registration process;the deregistration of life support customers;the obligation to share information; andthe obligation to keep and maintain a register and record of life support requirements. Registration Process The Guide provides a breakdown of the life support registration process which is split into: (i) customer notification, (ii) medical confirmation, (iii) deregistration, (iv) information sharing…

On 2 September 2021, the AER made a call for submissions on issues that will inform the AER Bill Contents and Billing Requirements Guideline (Guideline). Submissions are due by Wednesday, 22 September 2021. The purpose of the Guideline is to provide retailers with guidance on preparing and issuing bills to make it easier for residential and small customers to understand billing information. The new Guideline will be published by 1 April 2022, and compliance will be mandatory for all retailers. Changes resulting from Guideline will appear on consumer bills from August 2022. The Guideline development process has been informed by industry research. The AER, in collaboration with the Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA) has released new consumer insights and research about consumer billing comprehension, preferences and behaviours.…