AER v EnergyAustralia Pty Ltd [2022] FCA 644

Category: 
Court decision
Release date: 
2 June 2022
Related provisions: 

Between 1 February 2018 and 31 January 2019 – Rules 124(1)(a), (b) and (e) of the National Energy Retail Rules.

From 1 February 2019 - Rules 124(1)(a), (b) and (c), 124(3), 126(a) of the National Energy Retail Rules.

Outcome: 

The Federal Court judgement is available from the Federal Court of Australia website.

Overview

On 1 June 2022, the Federal Court found that EnergyAustralia Pty Ltd (EnergyAustralia) contravened its life support obligations under the National Energy Retail Rules.

The Federal Court found a total of 14,637 contraventions by EnergyAustralia, comprising failures to:

  • register customers that required life support equipment when advised by the customer or notified by the distributor,
  • notify the distributor when advised first by the customer,
  • provide the required information to life support customers within the specified timeframes, and
  • establish policies, systems and procedures for registering and de-registering a premises requiring life support equipment.

The Court ordered EnergyAustralia to pay a pecuniary penalty of $12 million in relation to the contraventions and contribute to the AER’s legal costs in the sum of $300,000.