Energy retailer Powershop has paid eight infringement notices totalling $542,400 issued by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) for alleged breaches of its life support obligations under the National Energy Retail Rules.
The alleged breaches impacted customers in South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.
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The AER alleged that between August 2021 and November 2022, Powershop failed to comply with its life support obligations under the Retail Rules by:
- failing to register three customers as requiring life support equipment when advised by each customer;
- failing to provide one customer with a life support information pack within the required timeframe;
- failing to notify the distributor in relation to three customers as requiring life support equipment when advised by each customer; and
- deregistering one life support customer without providing a deregistration notice.
AER deputy chair Justin Oliver said these failures could have resulted in significant harm to Powershop’s customers.
“While thankfully no customer’s health was harmed, the consequences of disconnection for life support customers could have been particularly severe,” Oliver said.
Powershop’s alleged failure to register customers for life support meant that customers did not receive a range of protections, and in some cases were without these for up to one year.
Powershop also did not register customers with the relevant distributor for over a year in some cases. The result was that distributors did not have advance notice of their life support requirements, and could not support these customers or prioritise the reconnection of their premises in the event of unplanned interruptions.
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The AER alleged that the breaches were caused by a range of deficiencies with Powershop’s systems and failures by its agents.
“This is another important reminder to all retailers to ensure they comply with their critical obligations to protect consumers who require life support equipment,” Oliver said.
