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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 800 asked in the Legislative Council on 18 August 2020 by Hon Peter Collier

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

ELECTRICITY RETAILERS — DISCONNECTIONS

800. Hon PETER COLLIER to the minister representing the Minister for Energy:

For each energy retailer in Western Australia, I ask the following.

(1) How many disconnection warnings were issued for each calendar month of 2020 for residential and non-residential customers?

(2) How many disconnections occurred for each calendar month of 2020 for residential and non-residential customers?

(3) What was the number of applications received and hardship utility grant scheme payments made for each calendar month of 2020?

Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:

I thank the honourable Leader of the Opposition for some notice of the question. The following information has been provided to me by the Minister for Energy.

(1)–(3) The answers are in tabular form. I seek leave to have them incorporated into Hansard.

Leave granted.

The following material was incorporated —

Horizon Power

(1)

Warnings

Month

Residential

Non Residential

January 2020

1883

442

February 2020

1526

377

March 2020

1213

274

April 2020

0

0

May 2020

0

0

June 2020

0

0

July 2020

0

0

August 2020*

0

0

Total:

4622

1093

* Numbers as at 18 August 2020.

(2)

Disconnections

Month

Residential Disconnections

Non-residential Disconnections

January 2020

256

36

February 2020

189

22

March 2020

148

23

April 2020

0

0

May 2020

0

0

June 2020

0

0

July 2020

0

0

August 2020*

0

0

Total:

593

81

Following the State Government's 31 March 2020 announcement regarding the disconnections moratorium, Horizon Power temporarily suspended disconnections for all customers and revised its collections notifications to ensure a focus on keeping customers connected. These changes included extended time for customers to pay their bills.

Further, Horizon Power undertook a multi-channelled customer engagement campaign across the regions which has been effective in communicating the Government's and Horizon Power's various support measures and services.

In the past month, customer calls seeking payment support measures have declined significantly.

* Numbers as at 18 August 2020.

(3)

HUGS Applications and Payments

Month

Applications

Payments

January 2020

60

42

February 2020

45

48

March 2020

29

25

April 2020

18

14

May 2020

27

20

June 2020

30

21

July 2020

27

21

August 2020*

9

3

Total:

245

194

* Numbers as at 18 August 2020.

Synergy

(1)

MONTH

DISCONNECTION WARNINGS ISSUED

RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS

NON-RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS

January 2020

8161

1230

February 2020

5611

971

March 2020

3481

898

April 2020

0

0

May 2020

0

0

June 2020

0

0

July 2020

0

2 (contestable business customer)

(2)

MONTH

DISCONNECTIONS

RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS

NON-RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS

January 2020

938

54

February 2020

1113

90

March 2020

957

57

April 2020

0

0

May 2020

0

0

June 2020

0

0

July 2020

0

2 (contestable business customer)

(3)

 

NUMBER OF HARDSHIP UTILITY GRANT SCHEME* PAYMENTS RECEIVED BY SYNERGY FROM DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITIES

January 2020

500

February 2020

502

March 2020

466

April 2020

348

May 2020

199

June 2020

191

July 2020

346

*It should be noted that the Hardship Utility Grant Scheme is administered by the Department of Communities.