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362 The Law Handbookcourt. If an order has been made for work tobe carried out, or for goods to be returned,and that order has not been complied with,the application may be renewed by theperson in whose favour the order has beenmade. That person files a notice of renewal,which must be done within 12 months of thefinal date for compliance.[11.230] Energy consumersBoth electricity and gas industries haveundergone a process of reform since themid-1990s (electricity) and early 2000s (gas).One recent significant reform has been theharmonisation of state-based regulations forthe electricity and natural gas retail marketsand distribution sectors into a single set ofnational rules, under the National EnergyConsumer Framework (NECF). The NECFwas formally adopted in NSW on 1 July2013. Under the NECF the term “energy”covers both electricity and natural gas.Generally the main pieces of legislation/regulations under the NECF are the NationalEnergy Retail Law (NERL) and the NationalEnergy Retail Rules (NERR). The NERL providesthe “big picture” provisions regulatingthe supply and sale of energy to small retailcustomers, whereas the NERR provides thedetailed content to these provisions.While the NECF provides a consistent setof customer protection measures,government-funded rebate and emergencyassistance programs remain under statejurisdiction.Customers in NSW have a choice ofwhich retailer supplies their energy services.Customers can choose to enter into a marketretail contract with an electricity or gasretailer (see Energy contracts at [11.240]).Electricity customers in NSW normallyhave direct dealings with electricity suppliersfrom two sectors of the industry: distributors(or networks) and retailers.• Distributors are responsible for the “polesand wires” that bring the power to acustomer’s property (see Maintenance andupgrade of services at [11.530]). NetworkNSW was created in 2013 and it ownsand operates the three distribution areascovering most of Sydney and the HunterValley (Ausgrid), Western Sydney and theIllawarra (Endeavour Energy); and therest of NSW (Essential Energy). Privatisationof Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy isplanned for 2015.• Retailers sell electricity to customers on acontractual basis (see Energy contracts at[11.240]).Likewise natural gas customers in NSWmay have dealings with the distributorwhen there are supply problems or leaks inthe street, but most of their business will bewith the retailer. In NSW there are sixreticulated gas distributors:• Jemena, covering the Illawarra, Sydney,Central Coast, Hunter, SouthernHighlands, Blue Mountains, Riverina,Central West and Orana• ActewAGL, covering Queanbeyan, Bungendoreand Nowra• Albury Gas Company, covering Albury• APT Allgas Energy, covering TweedHeads• Central Ranges Pipeline, coveringTamworth• Envestra (NSW), covering Riverina,Temora, Cooma, Bombala and MurrayValley.
11 Consumers 363Energy contracts[11.240] Opening and closingaccountsIt is important for customers to open anenergy account when they move into a newproperty and to close the account whenmoving out, to avoid paying for the energyuse of others. A security deposit may becharged on the opening of a new account(see Security deposits at [11.270]).[11.250] Types of contractsWhen opening an account, energy customersare entitled to choose between thefollowing types of contracts for their energyservices:• A standard retail contract with standingoffer tariffs which are set by the retailer,and standard terms and conditions (seeSchedule 1 of the NERR)• A standard retail contract with an agreedretail price approved by the IndependentPricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART),and standard terms and conditions (gasonly)• A market retail contract with competitivetariffs and terms and conditions that mayvary from contract to contract.Retail electricity prices were deregulated inNSW from 1 July 2014 and regulated tariffsare no longer available. Retail gas prices aresubject to voluntary retail pricing that areagreed to between IPART and the local arearetailer (see below), and are also known as“regulated offer prices” (NERL, s 37C).All retailers must have a standing offer,which gives domestic and small retail customersthe automatic right to supply (seeNERL, s 22 – 32). Small retail customers arethose who consume less than 100 megawatthours (MWh, which is 1,000 kilowatt hours)of electricity per year or less than 1 terajoule(TJ, which is 1,000,000 megajoules) of gasper year (National Energy Retail Law (Adoption)Regulation 2013 (NSW), cl 4(1)).Where the customer is opening an accountat a site without a previous connection, theyhave an automatic right to supply from thelocal area retailer for the relevant geographicalarea (NERL s 2 definition of “designatedretailer”).The local area retailers for electricity are:• Origin Energy for premises in EssentialEnergy and Endeavour Energy’s networkareas• EnergyAustralia for premises in Ausgrid’snetwork area.The local area retailers for gas are:• Origin Energy for premises in Envestraand Central Ranges Pipeline’s networkareas• AGL for premises in Jemena’s networkarea• ActewAGL Retail for premises inActewAGL’s network area (National EnergyRetail Law (Adoption) Regulation 2013,s 5).The local area gas retailers must offer bothstanding and regulated pricing offers tocustomers (NERL, s 37C(9)).Where the customer is opening an accountat a site where there is an existingconnection, they have an automatic right tosupply from the retailer who currentlysupplies the site (NERL, s 2 definition of“designated retailer”).Alternatively, customers may be offered amarket retail contract by an energy retailer.Under a market retail contract, the quality ofenergy supply will not change but thesecontracts generally offer different terms andconditions from the standard contract andsometimes bind customers to set periods(usually two or three years) or benefits.Administrative and penalty fees may becharged in certain circumstances or if contractterms are broken, usually by earlytermination of the contract. Some retailersoffer “dual fuel” contracts which includeboth electricity and natural gas.
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