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The Australian Energy Regulator makes sure electricity retailers are letting customers know about better deals. Photo: Energy Made Easy.<\/p>\n
The \u2018best offer\u2019 listed on Canberrans\u2019 electricity bills might not be the best deal available for their specific circumstances.<\/p>\n
All ACT energy retailers need to base their offers and discounts on the standing offer price as determined by the ACT\u2019s Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (ICRC).<\/p>\n
About every 90 days, customers can find out, on their bill, whether a better deal is available with their retailer.<\/p>\n
But ActewAGL acting CEO Megan Willcox said a better offer than the one on the bill could also be pursued over the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cCustomers can [then] contact their retailer and seek to achieve a better discount than that,\u201d she told a recent budget estimates hearing.<\/p>\n
Independent Kurrajong MLA Thomas Emerson sought clarity, questioning if he could actually receive a better deal than the one listed on his electricity bill.<\/p>\n
Ms Willcox explained it would depend on a customer\u2019s individual circumstances and their \u201cload profile\u201d, such as when they\u2019re using electricity during the day and whether they have other infrastructure, such as solar panels, that would lower ActewAGL\u2019s cost of providing the service.<\/p>\n
Mr Emerson asked whether Ms Willcox felt it was misleading for a bill to state a customer was on the best deal when they could potentially get a better one if they rang up.<\/p>\n
She responded that energy retailers had to outline the best deal that they were able to offer, but people were welcome to \u201cshop around\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a competitive market, so customers can seek to find the best deal by seeking out a better offer from their current retailer or another retailer,\u201d Ms Willcox said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRetailers may [also] want to retain [customers], or attract customers from other retailers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Better offer obligations on electricity retailers are part of the Australian Energy Regulator\u2019s (AER) Better Bills Guideline<\/a>. It applies to energy retailers who have customers in the ACT, NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.<\/p>\n It means retailers are required to carry out better offer checks, identify deemed better offers and provide messages about any better offers to small customers.<\/p>\n The deemed better offer must be either:<\/p>\n A plan offered by the retailer which is the lowest cost generally available plan applicable to the customer (in regard to their annual usage history) and doesn\u2019t have, as a precondition or condition, that the customer have or maintain an affiliation or membership with an entity that\u2019s unrelated to the retailer, or \u201cWhere the plan provides a discount on the condition that the customer buys another good or service, the deemed better offer identified must be determined without any such discount,\u201d an AER fact sheet to energy retailers outlined.<\/p>\n \u201cA better offer message must be provided on a small customer\u2019s bill at least every 100 days, or in alignment with a longer billing cycle agreed with the customer.\u201d<\/p>\n Given the guidelines refer to displaying the lowest cost \u201cgenerally available plan\u201d, this means retailers don\u2019t have to display other types of plans that are available.<\/p>\n This also doesn\u2019t stop the retailer from then creating a new offer for a customer when they call up to negotiate.<\/p>\n Mr Emerson said something needed to change.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy does my ActewAGL bill say I\u2019m on \u2018the best plan\u2019 they can offer me if I can get a better plan by threatening to jump ship to Origin?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s misleading and unfair \u2026 Energy providers should be upfront with customers about what\u2019s actually the best offer available to them.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople shouldn\u2019t have to haggle with a company that\u2019s 50 per cent owned by their government to get a fair deal.\u201d<\/p>\n (ActewAGL is 50 per cent owned by Icon Water, which in turn is a 100 per cent ACT Government-owned corporation).<\/p>\n Ms Willcox took on notice questions from Mr Emerson as to what triggered ActewAGL to offer a better deal than the \u2018best plan we can offer you\u2019 shown on a customer\u2019s energy bill, as well as any complaints that have been made about these practices in the last financial year.<\/p>\n Region reached out to the ICRC for further clarification, but was informed it had \u201climited responsibility\u201d for regulating retail electricity services.<\/p>\n \u201cWe investigate and set the regulated price for ActewAGL standing offer customers,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe monitor retailer compliance with the industry codes, including the ACT Retail Electricity (Transparency and Comparability) Code<\/a>, which provide additional consumer protections, and we report annually on industry compliance with the codes.\u201d<\/p>\n The ACT\u2019s Code used to have a section about better offer obligations, but this was amended when the national guidelines came into effect.<\/p>\n Both the AER and ICRC encouraged Canberrans to shop around to find more competitive offers.<\/p>\n The Commonwealth Government operates Energy Made Easy,<\/a> where people can input their consumption habits to find more suitable plans.<\/p>\n
\nA plan that has a lower cost than the lowest cost generally available plan applicable to the customer<\/p>\n