With 19 Australian energy companies, all of which are Energy Charter signatories, providing disclosures, the Independent Accountability Panel is now seeking public feedback.
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. This highlighted opportunities to discuss bills and energy usage, with information and support messaging translated across ten 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 ten #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
Chair of the Energy Charter CEO Council, Ben Wilson, said, “Last year was foundational for the Energy Charter.
“In 2020, it is all about delivery: what is different and better for our customers because the Energy Charter exists?
“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 came 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’.”
The Independent Accountability Panel, which is made up of Chair Clare Petre and panellists Cassandra Goldie, CEO Australian Council of Social Service, and Andrew Richards, CEO Energy Users Association of Australia, will now review the signatory disclosures.
The Energy Charter signatory CEOs will meet with the Independent Accountability Panel over coming weeks to discuss how they have delivered on their commitments to customers.
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 of the Independent Accountability Panel in 2019.
The Independent Accountability Panel’s period of public consultation will include online stakeholder forums to be held throughout October.
Written submissions about the signatories’ disclosures are invited by the Independent Accountability Panel until 30 October 2020. The Independent Accountability Panel’s report will be published in December 2020.
To have your say, click here, or to learn more about the Energy Charter, click here.
