SYNERGY AND HORIZON POWER
— ELECTRICITY BILL CREDITS
1041. Hon JACQUI BOYDELL to the minister representing the
Treasurer:
I
refer to a media statement, and subsequent Facebook posts, dated 4 October
2020, announcing ''Every WA household to receive a $600
electricity bill credit'', which further outlines that Synergy and
Horizon Power account holders will receive a credit.
(1) Does the
minister accept that this original statement is incorrect, given that many
households in the north west do not hold accounts with either provider due to
company housing arrangements but still have to pay their power bills?
(2) Does the minister have any plans to provide the
same level of assistance to households that find themselves in this
situation?
(3) If yes to
(2), what will be provided to those households and when will certainty be
provided to the families who will currently miss out?
Hon STEPHEN DAWSON
replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by
the Treasurer.
(1)–(3) The
McGowan government's $600 credit will be applied from 1 November 2020,
helping households ahead of Christmas. For most households, this will be
directly applied to their electricity account with Synergy or Horizon Power.
Households that are billed for their electricity use by other providers, such
as residents of caravan parks, retirement
villages, apartment buildings or communities supplied by local mining companies, will be eligible for an equivalent
credit, except in exceptional circumstances. I note the member's
comments on ABC radio on the need for means testing and am disappointed that
the Nationals WA would seek to lock regional families like those in company
housing out of receiving this benefit.
Households that are billed by other
providers and that were registered for the energy concession extension scheme on 4 October 2020 will receive the credit
automatically. Work is currently underway on an application process for
households not billed directly by Synergy or Horizon Power and for those who are
not eligible for ECES. More details will available for these customers over the
coming weeks.