The JEC coordinated a joint consumer and community advocate response to the AEMC’s National Energy Retail Amendment (Assisting Hardship Customers) Rule Change proposal. The submission was co-signed by ACOSS, Vinnies NSW, Sydney Community Forum and the Ethnic Communities Council of NSW.
The proposed rule change seeks to find a solution to the problem that many customers in energy hardship program are not on the deemed best offer of their retailer, resulting in customers paying more than is necessary and often accumulating more debt than is necessary.
Our organisations agree that households experiencing payment difficulty are often materially impacted by this issue.
Whilst we strongly support the intent behind this rule change, we are concerned about the implementation and the potential unintended consequences of the crediting mechanism proposed. We are not confident the proposal will deliver on the intent and are concerned it presents credible risks of causing or exacerbating consumer harms, rather than alleviating them.
We strongly encouraged the AEMC to consider a wider scope of alternative (more preferable) rule changes that may more meaningfully achieve the intent of the proposal, with less risk to consumers.
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