Legislation giving effect to the new National Energy Retail Law (Retail Law) passed both houses of South Australian Parliament without amendment on 9 March 2011 and received Royal Assent on 17 March 2011. The Ministerial Council on Energy agreed on 10 December 2010 that jurisdictions would work toward a common target date of 1 July 2012 for commencement of the Retail Law and National Energy Retail Rules (Retail Rules).
Under the Retail Rules (r. 116), a retailer cannot disconnect a customer for non payment where the amount owing is less than an amount approved by the AER (and the customer has agreed to repay that amount).
The AER is currently considering what amount should be approved as the minimum amount owing on a customer’s bill before disconnection for non payment.
The AER is holding a stakeholder meeting on 24 January 2012 from 2:00pm – 4 :00pm (AEDT), to discuss with interested parties relevant considerations in approving the minimum disconnection amount, and what the appropriate amount should be. The stakeholder meeting will be held in Melbourne with video links to other capital cities. A copy of the meeting agenda is below. A slide pack will be circulated to participants who have registered their attendance prior to the meeting.
If you are interested in attending this meeting, please register your interest by emailing AERInquiry
aer [dot] gov [dot] au (AERInquiry[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au) by 17 January 2012.
The AER will consider the views and issues discussed at the meeting and use these to inform further consultation on this issue which will take place throughout February 2012.