AGL Coughs Up Cash For (Alleged) Faulty Meter Fix Failures

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) announced yesterday three AGL retailers have paid penalties amounting to $160,000 for allegedly not fixing faulty electricity meters promptly.

On December 1, 2017, responsibility for electricity meters in the National Energy Market (NEM) switched from Distributed Network Service Providers (DNSPs) to electricity retailers. This change was a part of “Power of Choice” reforms put  in place by the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC).

Power of Choice was an absolute mess when originally rolled out, particularly in relation to getting new meters in place for households that had installed solar panels.

The situation did get better, but there’s still room for improvement on the solar front. For example, South Australia’s Energy & Water Ombudsman recently noted solar meter upgrade delay cases were still higher in June 2020 compared to June 2017 before metering competition was introduced.

Solar aside, it seems there are other meter related bottlenecks – including fixing faulty devices.

500+ Days From Faulty Meter Notification To Action

In this AGL situation involving eight cases, the AER alleges the company failed to promptly appoint dedicated metering coordinators to fix customers’ faulty meters.

“In some cases it took AGL more than 500 days to take action after being informed the meters were faulty,” states the Regulator.

The National Electricity Rules state that a responsible market participant (e.g. an electricity retailer) receiving a notice of a metering installation malfunction must “promptly” appoint a Metering Coordinator. There doesn’t appear a specific timeframe attached to “promptly”, but in anyone’s book 500 days wouldn’t qualify.

The following indicates the time from receiving notification of a faulty meter just to the time a metering coordinator was appointed in these cases:

• ~ 4.5 months
• ~ 6.5 months
• ~13.5 months
• ~ 10 months, 1 week
• ~ 18 months, 1 week
• ~ 9 months
• ~ 4.5 months
• ~ 4.5 months

The three AGL retailers (AGL) to have paid penalties

“If a meter is faulty, then retailers must ensure they are doing everything possible to ensure it is fixed promptly,” said AER Chair Clare Savage. “It is simply not good enough for customers to receive estimated bills because retailers do not have adequate systems and processes in place to ensure faulty meters were fixed as soon as possible.”

The AER notes it can issue an infringement notice where it has reasonable grounds to believe a business has breached National Electricity Rules where there is a civil penalty provision, but payment of infringement notices does not constitute an admission of liability. However, it does preclude the AER from taking any further action in relation to the alleged conduct.

If you’re having problems getting a faulty electricity meter fixed and can’t get the attention of your electricity retailer, try contacting the energy ombudsman in your state – but be sure to read any ombudsman guidelines before submitting a complaint.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/agl-penalty-meters-mb1846/