The AER will have a wide range of functions under the National Energy Customer Framework (NECF) including approving energy retailers’ customer hardship policies. The AER has today published draft Guidance on AER Approval of Customer Hardship Policies (Guidance). The paper is available at the AER's website.
This document provides guidance to retailers on the kind of information to include in their customer hardship policies, or to submit as supplementary information to the AER, when seeking approval of their customer hardship policy (or any future variation(s) to their policy). The information set out in this document will assist retailers to demonstrate that their policy satisfies all the minimum requirements and obligations specified in the Retail Law and Rules. It may also assist retailers who do not have a customer hardship policy in place to develop their policy in accordance with the Retail Law and Rules.
The Guidance provides information on the process retailers should follow when submitting customer hardship policies (or variations to policies) to the AER for approval. It outlines the general approach the AER will take to reviewing, assessing and approving customer hardship policies, including those customer hardship policies already in operation and where approval has previously been granted by a jurisdictional regulator. It provides guidance to retailers on the kind of factors and information the AER will look at, in having regard to the principles set out in the Retail Law, when it considers whether to approve a customer hardship policy.
The AER invites comments on this draft Guidance by 25 February 2011. Submissions should be sent to AERInquiry
aer [dot] gov [dot] au (AERInquiry[at]aer[dot]gov[dot]au). Responses received will inform the AER in developing its final Guidance on AER Approval of Customer Hardship Policies.