Energy Consumers Australia appreciates the opportunity to provide a submission to the Australian Energy Regulator (Retail Law) Performance Reporting Procedures and Guidelines Issues Paper.
Access to timely, comprehensive and accurate data is fundamental to identifying and understanding current and emerging issues for consumers in the retail energy market. The AER’s performance reporting data is an essential data source for Energy Consumers Australia. As we transition to an energy system with increased Consumer Energy Resources, access to reliable and trustworthy data is vital to identify potential risks and solutions. We strongly support the AER looking to expand the kinds of data it collects as part of its performance report. Increased transparency around the retail energy market will help enhance our evidence-based advocacy on behalf of energy consumers.
In our submission we support the changes outlined by the AER in the Issues Paper and suggest further improvements including:
- Capturing increased data on consumer engagement with the energy market in order to adequately assess retail competition;
- Investigating ways to allow easier comparisons with Victoria;
- Ensuring data on small businesses is collected to the same degree as residential consumers where applicable, and;
- Investigating improvements to the retailer report cards.
Read the full submission here.