Energy retailers cut off thousands due to unpaid bills, report shows

POWER companies have pulled the plug on almost 13,000 struggling Victorians in the first three months of this year.

Power companies have pulled the plug on almost 13,000 struggling Victorians in the first three months of this year. Generic picture

POWER firms threw the switch on almost 13,000 struggling Victorians in the first three months of this year.

The 12,718 residential customers cut off for not paying their gas and electricity bills were 2000 more than were cut off in the previous quarter.

And since last July, firms flouting proper procedure wrongly disconnected at least 520 customers — including six who needed power for life-supporting equipment such as respirators and dialysis machines.

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Annual average energy bills are to surge by as much as $165 for electricity and $192 for gas, and the Essential Services Commission said that over the next year it would work with energy firms to ensure disconnections were a last resort.

“If performance does not improve, we will pursue enforcement action wherever required,” it said.

However, demanding stronger protections for those in financial difficulty, Consumer Action Law Centre chief Gerard Brody said: “Retailers have been on notice for several years, yet disconnections are still sky-high.

“They can’t be trusted.”

Consumer Action Law Centre chief Gerard Brody.

The centre has submitted to the ESC that retailers should be unable to pull the plug without an independent review, and in some cases a home visit.

“We have proposed … a new agency … to establish whether there are genuine reasons not to proceed with a disconnection before a supplier can flick the switch. People genuinely unable to afford their energy would be put in touch with support services rather than disconnected,” Mr Brody said.

Retailers are currently required to send a reminder notice and a disconnection notice before pulling the plug.

Though cut-offs for the first quarter of this year were down on the 13,632 for the same quarter in 2016, the ESC is “closely monitoring” the recent upward trend. The figures don’t distinguish whether people were struggling to pay or were ducking bills.

Retailers should be unable to pull the plug without an independent review, says the Consumer Action Law Centre.

Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio’s spokesman David McNamara said disconnections were still too high, but “well below” records under the previous government.

The latest market update estimates almost 3000 customers on default “standing offers” with Alinta, Click, M2 Energy, People Energy and QEnergy face 5-39 per cent electricity and 10-20 per cent gas (Click and M2) price hikes.

Similar increases are expected in “due course” for almost 250,000 customers on market contracts.

Dominant retailers AGL, Origin and EnergyAustralia lifted prices in January. Prices are expected to rise again in the new year.

The government said it was reviewing whether retailers were “unreasonably taking advantage” of the closure of Hazelwood power station.

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@KarenCollierHS