Subsidiaries of property company Stockland Corporation Ltd (Stockland) have paid penalties totalling $100 000 following the issue of five infringement notices by the Australian Energy Regulator.
The AER issued the infringement notices because it has reason to believe that Stockland had sold electricity to customers without holding either a retailer authorisation or retail exemption as required by the National Energy Retail Law (Retail Law). The customers were located at a New South Wales shopping centre, and two shopping centres and two retirement villages in Queensland.
“The National Energy Retail Law requires that anyone selling energy to a person for premises must hold either a retailer authorisation or an exemption from the requirement to hold an authorisation,” AER Chair Paula Conboy said.
“Exemptions may be granted in some situations where customers cannot access the competitive retail market. This ensures that customers receive similar protections to customers buying from authorised energy retailers. The AER will take prompt enforcement action where a business is selling energy without an appropriate authorisation or exemption,” Ms Conboy said.
In addition to paying the infringement notice penalties, Stockland has provided the AER with an undertaking that it will not sell energy without a valid authorisation or exemption and that it will implement a Retail Law compliance program that will be subject to independent oversight.
Energy Intelligence, which provided Stockland with energy management services in relation to one of the properties at which electricity was sold, has also provided the AER with a court enforceable undertaking to improve its internal processes and to appoint a compliance officer with specific responsibilities in this area.
The payment of a penalty specified in an infringement notice is not an admission of a contravention of the Retail Law. The AER can issue an infringement notice where it has reason to believe a business has contravened a civil penalty provision of the Retail Law.
Background
The Retail Law (which applies in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, Queensland, and South Australia) sets out important obligations for energy sellers and provides key protections for customers.
Section 88 of the Retail Law requires that anyone selling energy to a person for premises must hold either a retailer authorisation or an exemption from the requirement to hold an authorisation.
Exemptions may be granted in some situations where customers cannot access the competitive retail market. An exemption may be appropriate where energy is sold incidentally to the main business, as a community service or at cost, or to a defined group of customers at one site. This may include retirement villages and shopping centres where the owner purchases energy from an authorised retailer then on-sells the energy to tenants or residents.
The AER's Exempt Selling Guideline sets out the AER’s approach to retail exemptions, including a full list of the types of activities which are exempt from the requirement to hold a retailer authorisation. The Guideline also sets out the conditions with which exempt sellers must comply.
About the AER
The Australian Energy Regulator regulates energy markets and networks under national legislation and rules in eastern and southern Australia, as well as networks in the Northern Territory. Its functions include:
- monitoring wholesale electricity and gas markets to ensure energy businesses comply with the legislation and rules, and taking enforcement action where necessary;
- setting the amount of revenue that network businesses can recover from customers for using networks (electricity poles and wires and gas pipelines) that transport energy;
- regulating retail energy markets in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania (electricity only), and the ACT;
- operating the Energy Made Easy website, which provides a retail price comparator and other information for energy consumers;
- publishing information on energy markets, including the annual State of the energy market report, to assist participants and the wider community.