‘Unacceptable’: Minister slams Ausnet over not setting up hardship payments

Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio has lashed electricity distributor Ausnet over an “unacceptable” delay in processing payments to more than a thousand customers affected by lengthy power outages.

The state opposition on Wednesday also lost a bid to hold a parliamentary inquiry into the network, with the Victorian Greens refusing to back the proposal after the government agreed to amend its climate change legislation.

Ausnet technicians repairing power lines in Emerald.Credit: Justin McManus

In response to damaging storms that left half a million homes without power on Tuesday last week, the state and federal governments have opened up “prolonged power outage payments” for those waiting for power for seven days or more. They will be administered by electricity distributors.

The state government indicated these payments would be made available from February 20, but a delay in setting up the system has forced Ausnet to push back the start of their program until Thursday.

D’Ambrosio said she was “not polite” to the company when she found out about the delay and urged it to publish an explanation on its website.

She said the government’s independent review into the storms, the electricity network and the response from distributors would examine this issue alongside others.

“Here’s another example, where a privatised power company has failed to deliver in time for communities that are in need,” D’Ambrosio said.

“It is absolutely unacceptable. On behalf of every Victorian, I want to be really clear that this is not on.

“They absolutely know my feelings on this and that was made absolutely clear last night.”

D’Ambrosio said she had been personally assured over the weekend that the systems for support payments would be ready to go on Tuesday. “They are accountable, as essential services, to make sure their systems are ready and in place,” she said.

Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio.Credit: Oscar Colman

“It’s not the first time we’ve gone through a significant catastrophic weather event; it happened twice in 2021.”

In a statement on the company’s website, Ausnet said there had been a delay to “ensure our systems were ready to enable payment transactions”.

A company spokesman said customers who may be eligible for payment were contacted via SMS on Tuesday and that applications can be submitted through its website from Thursday.

“We apologise for any confusion regarding the timeframe. It will not impact our first payment run early next week,” he said.

The distributor will also have support teams at relief centres in the Yarra Ranges, Cardinia and South Gippsland to help people apply for payment.

“We are aware of scam text messages being sent to our customers about the payment,” the spokesman said.

“Our SMS and links will clearly identify AusNet so that customers can be confident it is legitimate. AusNet will not ask for financial information via SMS.”

Premier Jacinta Allan said that as of Wednesday, 1269 customers were still without power. All those can apply for a prolonged power outage payment. Eligible customers can receive $1920 a week for up to three weeks, while small businesses can receive $2927 a week.

Power lines came down in the You Yangs, south-west of Melbourne, following wild wind gusts earlier this month.Credit: Jason South

Opposition Leader John Pesutto said it was the government’s responsibility to ensure distribution companies did their job.

“The question then is, why didn’t the government discharge its fundamental responsibility to crack down on the companies?” he said.

“Also making sure that where government could play a role in investing in resilience of transmission towers, wires and poles that it would do so.”

The opposition has rejected the government’s expert panel review and on Wednesday pushed for a parliamentary inquiry into the state’s electricity network. They argued this would have provided greater scrutiny of government decisions.

But the Greens and Legalise Cannabis party both revealed they would vote with the government to block the proposals. The decision was made after the Greens negotiated a deal with Labor to amend their climate change legislation, which aims to set new targets on renewable energy and battery storage.

The party claimed their amendments would stop the use of fake carbon offsets or carbon capture and storage, if not proven to work, in meeting emissions targets.

“The Greens get results – and that’s what we’ve done today by negotiating with the government to close dodgy loopholes that benefit coal and gas companies, as well as supporting an independent inquiry into improving our energy grid,” deputy leader Ellen Sandell said.