Australian Capital Territory

Utilities (Variation of Industry Code) Approval 2004     (No 2)

Disallowable Instrument DI2004-204

made under the
Utilities Act 2000, s 61(Variation)

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
The Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) may approve or determine a variation to an industry code under section 61 of the Utilities Act 2000. The ICRC may approve a variation after it has undertaken any required consultation, and if it is satisfied that the code is consistent with other industry and technical codes and that it is appropriate. 
The Electricity Customer Transfer Code was introduced last year, with the opening of the electricity market to full retail contestability, to facilitate and regulate the transfer of electricity customers between electricity suppliers. One of the proposed amendments to the code corrects an ambiguity in the provisions dealing with the transfer of a customer’s electricity supply. Specifically, the code provides that a utility must not transfer a customer’s supply of electricity unless the utility has the customer’s informed consent. As previously written, this provision could be interpreted to apply only to customers transferring between electricity suppliers. This interpretation treats the incumbent electricity supplier, ActewAGL Retail, more favourably than other, second tier suppliers, which is not the code’s intention. Rather it is intended to apply also where a customer is transferring the terms of supply from a utility’s standard customer contract to a negotiated customer contract with the same utility. The code has been amended to make it clear that the informed consent provisions for transferring customers apply to all transferring customers, including those moving from a standard to negotiated customer contract with ActewAGL. 
The code has also been amended to expand the meaning of “informed consent” to include consent that is made electronically, for example over the telephone or by e-mail. Any such consent must be in accordance with the Electronic Transactions Act 2001 (ACT). This amendment will bring the ACT’s practices in line with those in other states.
Copies of the Electricity Customer Transfer Code are available for inspection during ordinary office hours from the ICRC, Level 7 Eclipse House, 197 London Circuit, Canberra City. They are also available on the ICRC’s website at www.icrc.act.gov.au.