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Shared Social Responsibility of Energy Provision Energy retailers, government and the community sector need to work collaboratively to support customers who are experiencing difficulty accessing and affording essential services such as energy. This shared responsibility aims to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported and the responsibility is not placed on any single organisation. Working within this combined approach, AGL continues to support customers in staying connected to their energy supply. |
Staying Connected As an integral part of AGL’s operations, the provision of access to energy for vulnerable customers has been incorporated into our Staying Connected program since it was launched in 2003.
In establishing the Staying Connected program, AGL recognised the community expectations and internal business need to provide targeted support to customers who were experiencing either short term or long term energy payment difficulty. For customers whose sole source of income is government support, juggling the cost of life’s essentials can be a challenge. The establishment, training and support that is provided through a dedicated team has helped ensure customers have been able to stabilise their situation, retain access to their supply and improve the consistency and efficiency of business processes.
This program is further supported by a comprehensive awareness strategy across our customer facing teams to ensure that customers in hardship are readily identified and are able to access the support available.
The early recognition of customers facing difficulty with their energy bills, helps ensure that support can be targeted to assist with their individual requirements. As part of the program customers who maintain an agreed affordable payment plan do not receive any further collection notices during their time on the program. This helps relieve the additional pressure of collection notices and helps support the customer to stabilise their situation. Nationally between July 2006 and June 2007 there were 35,813 accounts disconnected for non payment, which is a small reduction on the numbers disconnected during 2005/2006.
The ongoing training of the Staying Connected team has been facilitated through our relationship with Kildonan Uniting Care and has focussed on communication, role-plays, call-coaching and cultural awareness. Providing respectful support helps ensure customers are comfortable staying in contact and engaging with AGL. In addition to supporting customers directly, the Staying Connected team have also developed an extensive network across the community with focus groups and community forums.
With the support of the Staying Connected program during 2006–2007 a further 4,397 customers have successfully completed their agreed payment plans bringing the overall total to over 11,500.
During 2006/2007 AGL extended the coverage of our Staying Connected program to include our residential customers in the Queensland market.
The provision of flexible payment arrangements ensures customers are best able to select a payment channel suitable to their situation. The Staying Connected program has increased the proportion of customers utilising Centrelink’s Centrepay facility to 36%, where affordable payments are deducted direct from Centrelink payments. Energy For LifeThe Energy For Life program utilises the skills, expertise and energy within the business to enable a contribution towards alleviating hardship and improving the lives of others. Within the program the Energy Matters stream provides the essential link between the business’ energy efficiency knowledge and utilising this energy ‘know how’ to support our communities.
Through partnership with the non profit organisation WorkVentures, AGL has delivered a program providing energy efficiency education and in home energy audits to households in the Claymore and Airds regions of south western Sydney. These audits empower consumers to be able to make energy efficiency changes within their own household which deliver small, but important benefits.
Further developments include an in home energy efficiency program being developed in conjunction with Mission Australia to support both Mission Australia and AGL clients within the Mansfield Park and Elizabeth regions of Adelaide. Regulatory DevelopmentsWithin the regulatory environment, AGL has continued to work with the South Australian Government and other retailers in developing a memorandum of understanding on Customer Hardship issues. The Victorian Essential Services Commission (ESC) developed energy hardship legislation in June 2007, which mandates the minimum requirements of a hardship policy that must be offered by all energy retailers.
The NSW Government strengthened the support available to customers facing financial hardship through voluntary hardship charters and strengthening the process prior to disconnection. These additional requirements fit within the existing Staying Connected program enabling AGL to continue to provide the level of support required to assist customers facing either short or long term utility payment difficulty. | |
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