Tag: victoria

On 1 March 2022, the Victorian Energy Retail Code of Practice took effect.  The rules previously existed in a different iteration (Energy Retail Code), however in December 2021, Victorian legislative changes deemed existing energy codes as ‘codes of practice’.  To fully implement the new enforcement framework and effect the conversion, the Essential Services Commission (ESC) undertook a 6 month review and consultation process, which culminated in the final version of the Energy Retail Code of Practice being published. The new code has no substantive changes to the obligations for licensees or exempt persons.  In the final decision, the ESC noted that the process of converting the existing code to a ‘code of practice’ was primarily an administrative one.  Chiefly, the changes involved re-numbering provisions, and minor clarifications.  This was to…

On 17 November 2021, the Victorian Essential Services Commission (ESC) released its Annual Report for 2020-21 (the Report). The purpose of the Report is to provide an overview of the previous financial year (ending 20 June 2021), including what they did, how they performed on key goals, and what they plan to do in the future. Key highlights of 2020-21 There were a number of key issues discussed in the Report: COVID-19 - this had a big impact on the ESC and influenced their activities in a number of areas.   Some key directives they implemented included:         monitoring and reporting on customer and industry data in the energy and water industry to track the impact of the pandemicincreasing customer protections from disconnection, and protections for small businesses facing payment difficulties due to…