Electricity Supply (General) Amendment Regulation 2007 (NSW)
2007 No 283
New South Wales
Electricity Supply (General)
Amendment Regulation 2007
under the
Electricity Supply Act 1995
Her Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has made the following Regulation under the Electricity Supply Act 1995.
IAN MACDONALD, M.L.C.,
Minister for Energy
Explanatory note
The objects of this Regulation are:
| (a) | to require all retail suppliers (instead of just standard retail suppliers) who supply electricity to small retail customers who own or occupy residential premises to operate a payment plan in respect of those customers (a payment plan makes provision for customers facing financial difficulty), and | |||||
| (b) | to require those retail suppliers to offer a payment plan to any customer facing financial difficulty prior to discontinuing electricity supply or arranging for disconnection (and to prevent service providers who provide connection services through an arrangement with a supplier from disconnecting electricity supply unless such an offer has been made), and | |||||
| (c) | to make further provision with respect to the procedure for entering into and terminating electricity supply contracts, including: | |||||
|
This Regulation is made under the Electricity Supply Act 1995, including section 106 (the general regulation-making power) and clause 6 of Schedule 2.
| Published in Gazette No 83 of 29 June 2007, page 4021 | Page 1 |
| 2007 No 283 | |
| Clause 1 | Electricity Supply (General) Amendment Regulation 2007 |
Electricity Supply (General) Amendment Regulation
2007
under the
Electricity Supply Act 1995
1 Name of Regulation
This Regulation is the Electricity Supply (General) Amendment
Regulation 2007.
2 Commencement
This Regulation commences on 1 July 2007.
3 Amendment of Electricity Supply (General) Regulation 2001
The Electricity Supply (General) Regulation 2001 is amended as set out in Schedule 1.
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(Clause 3)
[1] Clause 6 Endorsement conditions relating to payment plans
Omit the clause.
[2] Clause 11 Notice procedures where small retail customers change supplier or status
Omit clause 11 (1) (b).
[3] Clause 11 (2) (b)
Omit “the name and contact details of that supplier”.
Insert instead “the contact details of the Tribunal”.[4] Clause 12
Omit the clause. Insert instead:
12
Election to be supplied under standard form customer supply contract
(1) An election to be supplied with electricity by a standard retail supplier under a standard form customer supply contract may be made in writing, by telephone or by any means acceptable to the supplier. (2) As soon as practicable after the election is made, the supplier is to issue a written notice to the customer containing the following particulars:
(a) the name of the customer, (b) the premises to be supplied with electricity, (c) the customer’s National Metering Identifier, (d) the date that supply of electricity commenced or is expected to commence. (3) The notice is to include the document required to be provided
under clause 13.
[5] Clause 13 Information given to persons who elect standard form contracts
Omit “receiving an application from” from clause 13 (1).
Insert instead “an election is made by”.
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[6] Clause 13A
Insert after clause 13:
13A Licence condition relating to payment plans, disconnection and
discontinuance of supply
(1) It is a condition of a licence of a supplier who supplies electricity to a small retail customer that the supplier operate a payment plan:
(a) applying to small retail customers who own or occupy residential premises and who are, in the supplier’s opinion, experiencing financial difficulty, and (b) that complies with subclause (2) and is approved by the Minister for the purposes of this clause. (2) The payment plan must:
(a) enable customers to make payments by instalments, in advance or arrears, and (b) provide for the customer to be informed of the following matters: (i) the period, or periods, of the payment plan,
(ii) the amount of each instalment and the frequency of instalments,
(iii) if the customer is in arrears, the number of instalments required to pay the arrears,
(iv) if the customer is to pay in advance, the basis on which instalments are calculated, and
(c)
provide for instalments to be calculated having regard to a customer’s consumption needs, a customer’s capacity to pay and the amount of any arrears a customer is required to pay, and
(d)
provide procedures that are fair and reasonable for dealing with the financial difficulty faced by a customer who is obtaining the benefit of the scheme.
(3)
It is a condition of a licence of a supplier who supplies electricity to a small retail customer that the supplier does not discontinue supply to residential premises owned or occupied by a small retail customer or, in a case where connection services have been arranged by the supplier, request the service provider to disconnect such premises, on the grounds that the customer has failed to make due payment of money owed to the supplier unless:
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(a)
the supplier provides written notice of the supplier’s intention to do so to the customer, indicating that, if the customer is experiencing financial difficulty, the customer may apply for assistance under the payment plan operated by the supplier, and
(b)
the customer fails to apply for assistance under the payment plan by the date indicated in the notice as the date by which the customer must make such an application, or having made such an application, is assessed by the supplier to be ineligible for assistance under the payment plan.
(4) It is a condition of a licence of a service provider who provides customer connection services to a small retail customer through an arrangement with the supplier that the service provider does not disconnect residential premises owned or occupied by the small retail customer at the request of the supplier unless the supplier has notified the service provider that it is authorised to make the request under subclause (3). (5) Subclauses (3) and (4) do not apply to any disconnection or discontinuance of supply on the grounds of failure to make due payment of money in accordance with a payment plan. (6) The Minister’s approval of a payment plan:
(a) has effect for the period of time specified in the approval, and (b) is subject to such conditions as the Minister may specify in the approval, which may include a condition requiring the supplier to submit the payment plan for review when requested by the Minister.
[7] Clause 42 Information to be provided to small retail customers about contracts
Omit “with a copy of the contract at the time that the contract is entered into” from clause 42 (2).
Insert instead “, within 2 business days of the contract being entered into, with a copy of the contract and a disclosure notice”.
[8] Clause 42 (2A)
Insert after clause 42 (2):
(2A)
For the purposes of this clause, a disclosure notice is a document containing the following information in relation to the contract:
(a) the name and contact details of the supplier,
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(b) the name and contact details of a person responsible for arranging connection services on behalf of the customer (if any), (c) the premises to be supplied with electricity, (d) the commencement date and term of the contract, (e) the extent to which the price offered is inclusive of all costs, and if the price offered is not inclusive of all costs, the particulars of the costs not included, (f) the customer’s right to enter into any applicable standard form customer contract, and how the terms of the contract differ from that standard form customer contract, (g) a statement of the customer’s rights under this Regulation in relation to the cooling-off period, (h) any requirement for a deposit to be paid by the customer and when that deposit is payable, (i) any penalties or charges imposed on the customer for any change including, but not limited to, any variation in electricity load or early termination,
(j) a statement of the customer’s rights in relation to disputes and resolution of disputes with the supplier, including the procedures for referring complaints and disputes to the electricity industry ombudsman.
[9] Clause 42 (5)
Insert after clause 42 (4):
(5) In this clause:
business day means a day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or public
holiday throughout the State.
[10] Clause 111 Payment plans
Omit the clause.
[11] Clause 113C
Insert after clause 113B:
| 113C | Payment plans for all suppliers | |
|
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(2) The amendments made to clause 12 of Schedule 2 by the Electricity Supply (General) Amendment Regulation 2007, so far as they relate to payment plans, do not apply in respect of suppliers until the date that suppliers are required to comply with clause 13A. (3) However the provisions of this Regulation relating to payment plans, as in force immediately before the commencement of the Electricity Supply (General) Amendment Regulation 2007, continue to apply to standard retail suppliers until the date that all suppliers are required to comply with clause 13A. Note. Clause 13A requires all retail suppliers who deal with small retail customers to operate a payment plan. Standard retail suppliers were already required to operate a payment plan under clause 6 of this Regulation immediately before its repeal and replacement by clause 13A and will continue to be required to operate those payment plans until all suppliers are required to comply with new clause 13A. It will also be necessary for those standard retail suppliers to re-submit their payment plans to the Minister for approval in order to comply with new clause 13A.
[12] Schedule 2 Customer supply contracts
Omit clause 7 (1). Insert instead:
(1)
A negotiated customer supply contract must confer on the customer a right to terminate the contract (orally or in writing) within 10 days after the date that the contract is entered into, or the date that a copy of the contract is received by the customer, whichever is the later.
(1A) If a customer exercises any such right to terminate a negotiated customer supply contract, the contract must require the supplier to provide the customer with a record of that termination. [13] Schedule 2, clause 12 (3) (d) (ii)
Omit the sub-paragraph. Insert instead:
(ii) of any payment plan operated by the supplier that is available to the customer if the customer is experiencing financial difficulty, and
(iii) if the customer has applied for assistance under the payment plan by the date indicated by the supplier as the date by which the customer must make an application, of the outcome of such application on or before the second written notice given under subclause (2) (a).
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[14] Schedule 2, clause 12 (4)
Omit the subclause. Insert instead:
(4) The contract must require the supplier, if attempts to deal with the customer under subclause (2) (b) are unsuccessful because of a failure to make contact with the customer, to use its best endeavours to make contact with the customer outside business hours for the purpose of dealing with the customer as required by that subclause.
[15] Schedule 2, clause 12 (7) and (7A)
Omit clause 12 (7). Insert instead:
(7)
The contract must require that the supplier not discontinue electricity supply for a failure to make due payment of money owed to the supplier if the customer applies before the date specified in accordance with subclause (3) (b) for assistance under the payment plan operated by the supplier.
(7A) Subclause (7) does not prevent a supplier from discontinuing electricity supply if a customer fails to make due payment of money in accordance with the payment plan operated by the supplier or is assessed by the supplier to be ineligible for assistance under the payment plan. [16] Schedule 3 Customer connection contracts
Omit clause 15 (4). Insert instead:
(4) The contract must require the supplier, if attempts to deal with the customer under subclause (2) (b) are unsuccessful because of a failure to make contact with the customer, to use its best endeavours to make contact with the customer outside business hours for the purpose of dealing with the customer as required by that subclause.
[17] Schedule 3, clause 15 (5)
Insert “or (4)” after “(2) (b)”.
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