Call for Customer Feedback

The Energy Charter Independent Accountability Panel calls for customer feedback on energy company performance

The Energy Charter is an industry-led, whole-of-sector initiative to address customer expectations of the energy industry. Energy businesses across the energy supply chain have committed to this initiative to progress the culture and develop the solutions required to deliver energy in line with community expectations.

The Energy Charter Independent Accountability Panel was established to assess the progress of the energy companies that are Signatories to the Energy Charter Principles.

The Panel has received the second year’s disclosures from the Signatories to the Energy Charter and is now seeking customer and other stakeholder feedback on these reports from the Signatories on their progress in delivering on the Energy Charter Principles.

The 2020 disclosures are available on the Independent Accountability Panel’s website

The Chair of the three-person Independent Accountability Panel, Clare Petre, said the Independent Accountability Panel is looking forward to hearing from residential customers, businesses, and other stakeholders to help the Panel assess performance of the Signatories against the Energy Charter Principles.

Clare Petre said that the Panel is keen to hear from customers and stakeholders about the extent to which the industry is becoming more customer centric and building trust.

“The Independent Accountability Panel’s role is to provide an independent view of the Signatories’ performance in delivering for their customers against the Energy Charter Principles and to identify areas needing further improvement. The experience of customers and other stakeholders is central to our understanding of the impact of the Charter and to guide our assessment,” said Clare Petre.

After reviewing the disclosures and customer and stakeholder feedback, the Independent Accountability Panel will publish a public evaluation report at the end of November 2020.

Customers and stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on the disclosures by attending one of the Panel’s Industry Disclosure Forums to be held October 19-23, 2020: Register now. You can also write to the Independent Accountability Panel by 5pm Sydney time on 30 October by sending your submissions to submissions@theenergycharterpanel.com.au or via our Contact Us page.

Invitation to Public Forums 2020

The Energy Charter Independent Accountability Panel Stakeholder Forums.

Thank you for your interest in the Independent Accountability Panel 2019 Stakeholder Forums held in October last year.

Our 2020 Forums are being conducted on-line from Monday 19 October to Friday 23 October and we welcome your attendance and involvement once again. Below you will find links to each of the events, and details of how to register through Eventbrite. Registration is essential.

INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTABILITY PANEL 2020 STAKEHOLDER FORUMS

October 19 to October 23, 2020

The IAP is very keen to hear from community representatives and other stakeholders about the 2020 Disclosures by Signatories to the Energy Charter which are published on the IAP website

NSW – 19 October at 9:30am AEDT 

QUEENSLAND – 19 October at 10:30am AEST

VICTORIA – 22 October at 9:30am AEDT

TASMANIA – 23 October at 9:30am AEDT

SA & WA REMOTE/REGIONAL – 23 October at 11:30am AEDT

We welcome your input and hope to see you there!

 

Clare Petre – Chair
Independent Accountability Panel

Energy Consumers Invited to have their say

Energy consumers invited to have their say

2 October, 2020

Australian energy users are being invited to have their say on energy generators, distribution and transmission companies and retailers. Today sees a period of public consultation commence in which electricity and gas customers are specifically invited to comment on the disclosures of 19 Australian energy companies, all of which are signatories to the Energy Charter.

Signatories’ disclosures benchmark the improvements Energy Charter companies undertake to be more customer focused over a 12-month period. They also measure the progress signatories have made against the recommendations handed down by the Independent Accountability Panel last year.

Chair of the Energy Charter CEO Council, Ben Wilson said that despite a number of issues faced in the past year, energy company signatories to the Energy Charter have made a concerted effort to collaborate along the supply chain and put customers first.

“This has been an extremely challenging year for our customers, communities and signatories with bushfires, floods and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with these challenges also come unique opportunities to better support Australians, to step beyond business-as-usual and demonstrate as a sector we are working together on the vision of the Energy Charter to ‘deliver energy for a better Australia’.

We welcome the opportunity for customers, communities and their representatives to have their say about whether the energy sector has met their expectations,” Mr Wilson said.

Over the past 12 months through the Energy Charter, signatories have collectively:

  • Produced a focused awareness campaign during COVID-19 to inform customers of the help available to them. They highlighted opportunities to discuss bills and energy usage, with information and support messaging translated across 10 languages, together with customer resources for COVID-19, including for students
  • Committed to include public customer satisfaction scores in their disclosures to the Independent Accountability Panel
  • Sponsored more than 10 #BetterTogether initiatives that saw groups of businesses working together to deliver outcomes for customers such as improving electricity and gas connections, getting concessions to the right people and improving energy literacy for culturally and linguistically diverse communities

The Energy Charter signatories’ disclosure reports have been submitted to the Independent Accountability Panel for review which is chaired by Clare Petre with panellists Cassandra Goldie, CEO Australian Council of Social Service and Andrew Richards, CEO Energy Users Association of Australia.

The Independent Accountability Panel’s period of public consultation will include CEO interviews and online stakeholder forums to be held throughout October, before making their recommendations public in early December 2020. Written submissions about the signatories’ disclosures are invited by the Independent Accountability Panel until 30 October 2020.

To have your say, visit www.theenergycharterpanel.com.au
For more about the Energy Charter, visit www.theenergycharter.com.au

[ENDS]

For media enquiries, please contact:
Sabiene Heindl, E: director@theenergycharter.com M: 0412 039 747

Energy Charter Signatories

Established in January 2019, the Energy Charter is a CEO-led initiative of 19 Australian energy companies. It is the first time that all parts of the energy supply chain have come together and committed to a disclosure framework to help deliver a more affordable, reliable and sustainable energy system for all Australians.

19 signatories: ActewAGL, AGL, APA Group, Aurora Energy, Ausgrid, Australian Gas Infrastructure Group, Clean Co, CS Energy, Endeavour Energy, Energy Queensland Limited including Ergon Energy Network, Energex, Yurika and Ergon Energy Retail, EnergyAustralia, Essential Energy, Horizon Power, Jemena & Ovida, Meridian Energy Australia & Powershop Australia, Origin Energy, Powerlink Queensland, Stanwell and TransGrid.

For more information visit Energy Charter

Follow the Energy Charter LinkedIn

The Independent Accountability Panel

The Independent Accountability Panel is made up of:

Clare Petre (Chair), former Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW

Cassandra Goldie, CEO Australian Council of Social Service

Andrew Richards, CEO Energy Users Association of Australia

For more information visit Energy Charter panel