Sector:
Segment:
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.