AER final issues paper - customer price information - 26 September 2017

On 26 September 2017, the AER released an issues paper seeking feedback on ways to improve the quality and accessibility of information customers receive about energy offers.

The purpose of the issues paper is to seek information on options to improve the clarity of information energy customers receive, with a view to making customers more confident to engage in the market and to find themselves a better energy deal.

We are particularly interested in experiences in other markets or jurisdictions and evidence of where and how these options have provided benefits. Information received in response to this paper will inform a range of work being undertaken by the AER in relation to our Retail Information Pricing Guidelines, potential future enhancements to our Energy Made Easy price comparison website, and other work concerning the way customers receive information about their energy service.

The issues paper seeks feedback on four key areas:

• The content and format of Energy Price Fact Sheets
• The development of a comparison rate for energy offers
• Technological solutions that facilitate simpler comparison of energy offers
• Facilitating comparison of energy offers for customers without access to technology, or whose preference is for non-online communications

Feedback is not limited to these four areas and we are also interested in exploring other ideas for enhancing the information customers use to make decisions about their energy service so that they can be more confident to engage in the market.