The ACCC granted conditional interim authorisation to allow the Australian Energy Council (AEC) and wholesale and retail energy businesses to co-operate on providing financial relief to residential and business customers financially impacted by COVID-19. The ACCC’s COVID-19 Taskforce has received thousands of calls and emails from impacted businesses.
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'Severe disruption to Australian small businesses'
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“The COVID-19 pandemic is dramatically changing the global economic landscape and causing severe disruption to Australian small businesses,” said ACCC chair Rod Sims speaking via Zoom at an event organised by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).
“Many small businesses are doing it tough, and are being forced to restrict their hours, lay off staff and, for too many, close their doors.”
The interim authorisation allows business in the electricity and gas markets to hold discussions, share information, and enter into arrangements for the purpose of providing financial relief and other measures to small, medium and large businesses, and to expand support under existing hardship programs for residential customers.
“Energy is an essential service and this is an important opportunity to allow energy market participants to support consumers and businesses through the pandemic,” Sims said.
The Statement of Expectations sets out ten principles the AER expects businesses to adhere to during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the continued safe and reliable supply of energy to homes and businesses. This includes expectations about payment plans and hardship arrangements, no disconnections and deferring referrals to debt collection agencies for recovery actions.
The AEC must also regularly update the ACCC and the AER about the information shared and the decisions made by retailers as part of the authorisation.
“We believe that allowing the AEC and energy businesses to work together will enable customer relief to be provided more quickly and efficiently than it would if the parties were to work on these measures independently,” Sims said.
The ACCC will now seek feedback on the application for final authorisation, which is sought for a period of 12 months from date of authorisation. More information, including the ACCC’s interim authorisation decision, is available on the ACCC public register.
Sims said there may be further benefits to energy users flowing from the crisis.
“One rare positive to come from this pandemic is that wholesale electricity and gas prices are falling significantly. These falls need to be passed on to businesses that rely on energy. As Australia comes out of this crisis we will need our energy prices to fall significantly if we are to have the recovery we need.”
The ACCC’s COVID-19 Taskforce is responding to the thousands of phone calls, emails and social media reports from impacted businesses.
“We are already engaging with some large businesses about allegations they are deliberately choosing not to pay their suppliers, or demanding large discounts off goods already delivered, and also delaying payments significantly, and that they should cease the conduct immediately,” Sims said.
“We are looking into concerns that many small grocery or convenience stores are missing out on supplies that now seem readily available to the large supermarkets. We need to maintain strong competition in the retail sector to ensure economic recovery once the pandemic subsides.”
ACCC COVID-19 information for small business can be found here.
