1Essential Services Commission (Energy Industry Penalty Regime) Regulations 2016

Version No. 002

Essential Services Commission (Energy Industry Penalty Regime) Regulations 2016

S.R. No. 48/2016

Version incorporating amendments as at
4 December 2019

TABLE OF PROVISIONS

Regulation Page

1 Objectives 1

2 Authorising provision 1

3 Commencement 1

4 Definitions 2

5 Energy industry contraventions 3

5A Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 1 3

6 Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 3 4

7 Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 6 4

8 Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 7 4

9 Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 8 5

10 Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 9 5

11 Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 10 5

Schedule 1—Prescribed licence conditions and circumstances 7

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Endnotes 19

1 General information 19

2 Table of Amendments 21

3 Amendments Not in Operation 22

4 Explanatory details 23

Version No. 002

Essential Services Commission (Energy Industry Penalty Regime) Regulations 2016

S.R. No. 48/2016

Version incorporating amendments as at
4 December 2019

1 Objectives

The objectives of these Regulations are—

(a) to prescribe conditions and circumstances for the purposes of the definition of energy industry contravention in section 54F of the Essential Services Commission Act 2001; and

(b) to prescribe lesser amounts of energy industry penalties for the purposes of section 54I(1) of the Essential Services Commission Act 2001 in respect of certain energy industry contraventions; and

(c) to prescribe any other matter required, permitted or necessary to be prescribed under the Essential Services Commission Act 2001.

2 Authorising provision

These Regulations are made under section 65 of the Essential Services Commission Act 2001.

3 Commencement

These Regulations come into operation on 1 June 2016.

4 Definitions

In these Regulations—

AMI Tariffs Order means the Order made under section 46D of the Electricity Industry Act 2000 published in the Victoria Government Gazette S216 on 19 June 2013;

Electricity Distribution Code means the document entitled "Electricity Distribution Code" published and amended from time to time by the Commission;

electricity distribution licence means a licence issued under Part 2 of the Electricity Industry Act 2000 to distribute or supply electricity;

electricity retail licence means a licence issued under Part 2 of the Electricity Industry Act 2000 to sell electricity;

energy industry contravention has the meaning given by section 54F of the Act;

energy industry penalty means the penalty specified under section 54I(1) of the Act;

gas distribution licence means a licence issued under Part 3 of the Gas Industry Act 2001 to provide services by means of a distribution pipeline;

Gas Distribution System Code means the document entitled "Gas Distribution System Code" published and amended from time to time by the Commission;

gas retail licence means a licence issued under Part 3 of the Gas Industry Act 2001 to sell gas by retail;

relevant customer—

(a) in relation to an electricity retail licence, has the same meaning as in that licence;

(b) in relation to a gas retail licence, has the same meaning as in that licence;

the Act means the Essential Services Commission Act 2001.

5 Energy industry contraventions

For the purposes of the definition of energy industry contravention in section 54F of the Act—

(a) a prescribed condition of an energy licence is a condition specified in column 2 of Table 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11 in Schedule 1;

(b) the prescribed circumstance for a prescribed condition of an energy licence is the circumstance specified for that licence condition in column 3 of Table 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11 in Schedule 1.

Note to reg. 5 amended by S.R. No. 128/2019 reg. 5.

Note

Section 54I(1) of the Act provides that the amount of an energy industry penalty for an energy industry contravention is $20 000 unless a lesser amount is prescribed. Regulations 5A to 11 prescribe lesser amounts for certain energy industry contraventions.

Reg. 5A inserted by S.R. No. 128/2019 reg. 6.

5A Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 1

(1) For the purposes of section 54I(1) of the Act, the following amounts are prescribed for an energy industry contravention of the licence condition set out in column 2 of item 1 in Table 1 in Schedule 1—

(a) in the circumstances set out in paragraphs (a), (i), (j) and (k) in column 3 of that item—$10 000;

(b) in the circumstances set out in paragraphs (f), (g), (o), (p), (q), (r), (s), (t), (u) and (v) in column 3 of that item—$15 000;

(c) in the circumstances set out in paragraphs (l) and (n) in column 3 of that item—$7500;

(d) in the circumstances set out in paragraph (m) in column 3 of that item—$5000.

(2) For the purposes of section 54I(1) of the Act, $15 000 is the prescribed amount for an energy industry contravention set out in item 5 in Table 1 in Schedule 1.

6 Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 3

For the purposes of section 54I(1) of the Act, $10 000 is the prescribed amount for an energy industry contravention set out in Table 3 in Schedule 1.

7 Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 6

For the purposes of section 54I(1) of the Act, $15 000 is the prescribed amount for an energy industry contravention set out in Table 6 in Schedule 1.

8 Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 7

For the purposes of section 54I(1) of the Act, the following amounts are prescribed for an energy industry contravention of the licence conditions set out in column 2 of items 1, 2 and 3 in Table 7 in Schedule 1—

(a) in the circumstances set out in paragraph (a) in column 3 of those items—$10 000;

(b) in the circumstances set out in paragraph (b) in column 3 of those items—$7500.

9 Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 8

For the purposes of section 54I(1) of the Act, $10 000 is the prescribed amount for an energy industry contravention set out in Table 8 in Schedule 1.

10 Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 9

For the purposes of section 54I(1) of the Act, the following amounts are prescribed—

(a) for an energy industry contravention of the licence condition set out in column 2 of item 1 in Table 9 in Schedule 1—

(i) in the circumstances set out in paragraphs (a) and (c) in column 3 of that item in that Table—$10 000;

(ii) in the circumstances set out in paragraphs (b) and (d) in column 3 of that item in that Table—$5000.

(b) for an energy industry contravention set out in items 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 in Table 9 in Schedule 1—$10 000.

11 Lesser energy industry penalties prescribed for contraventions—Table 10

For the purposes of section 54I(1) of the Act, the following amounts are prescribed—

(a) for an energy industry contravention of the licence condition set out in column 2 of item 1 in Table 10 in Schedule 1—

(i) in the circumstances set out in paragraphs (a), (b), (d) and (e) in column 3 of that item—$5000;

(ii) in the circumstances set out in paragraph (c) in column 3 of that item—$7500;

(b) for an energy industry contravention of the licence condition set out in item 2 in Table 10 in Schedule 1—$5000;

(c) for an energy industry contravention of the licence condition set out in column 2 of items 3 and 4 in Table 10 in Schedule 1—

(i) in the circumstances set out in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (e) and (f) in column 3 of those items—$5000;

(ii) in the circumstances set out in paragraph (d) in column 3 of those items—$7500.

Schedule 1—Prescribed licence conditions and circumstances

Sch. 1 (Table 1) substituted by S.R. No. 128/2019 reg. 7.

Table 1—Energy industry contraventions relating to payment difficulties

Table 2—Energy industry contraventions relating to life support customers

Table 3—Energy industry contraventions relating to access to interpreters or translators

Table 4—Energy industry contraventions relating to
explicit informed consent

Table 5—Energy industry contraventions relating to exit fees

Table 6—Energy industry contraventions relating to undercharging
or overcharging of customers

Table 7—Energy industry contraventions relating to energy bills

Table 8—Energy industry contraventions relating to
guaranteed service levels and interruptions to energy supply

Table 9—Energy industry contraventions relating to the price comparator website

Table 10—Energy industry contraventions relating to record keeping

Table 11—Energy industry contraventions relating to access to offers for renewable energy customers

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Endnotes

1 General information

See www.legislation.vic.gov.au for Victorian Bills, Acts and current Versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.

The Essential Services Commission (Energy Industry Penalty Regime) Regulations 2016, S.R. No. 48/2016 were made on 24 May 2016 by the Governor in Council under section 65 of the Essential Services Commission Act 2001, No. 62/2001 and came into operation on 1 June 2016: regulation 3.

The Essential Services Commission (Energy Industry Penalty Regime) Regulations 2016 will sunset 10 years after the day of making on 24 May 2026 (see section 5 of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1994).

INTERPRETATION OF LEGISLATION ACT 1984 (ILA)

Style changes

Section 54A of the ILA authorises the making of the style changes set out in Schedule 1 to that Act.

References to ILA s. 39B

Sidenotes which cite ILA s. 39B refer to section 39B of the ILA which provides that where an undivided regulation, rule or clause of a Schedule is amended by the insertion of one or more subregulations, subrules or subclauses the original regulation, rule or clause becomes subregulation, subrule or subclause (1) and is amended by the insertion of the expression "(1)" at the beginning of the original regulation, rule or clause.

Interpretation

As from 1 January 2001, amendments to section 36 of the ILA have the following effects:

• Headings

All headings included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after
1 January 2001 form part of that Statutory Rule. Any heading inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Statutory Rule.
This includes headings to Parts, Divisions or Subdivisions in a Schedule; Orders; Parts into which an Order is divided; clauses; regulations; rules; items; tables; columns; examples; diagrams; notes or forms.
See section 36(1A)(2A)(2B).

• Examples, diagrams or notes

All examples, diagrams or notes included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Statutory Rule. Any examples, diagrams or notes inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, form part of that Statutory Rule. See section 36(3A).

• Punctuation

All punctuation included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after
1 January 2001 forms part of that Statutory Rule. Any punctuation inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Statutory Rule.
See section 36(3B).

• Provision numbers

All provision numbers included in a Statutory Rule form part of that Statutory Rule, whether inserted in the Statutory Rule before, on or after
1 January 2001. Provision numbers include regulation numbers, rule numbers, subregulation numbers, subrule numbers, paragraphs and subparagraphs. See section 36(3C).

• Location of "legislative items"

A "legislative item" is a penalty, an example or a note. As from 13 October 2004, a legislative item relating to a provision of a Statutory Rule is taken to be at the foot of that provision even if it is preceded or followed by another legislative item that relates to that provision. For example, if a penalty at the foot of a provision is followed by a note, both of these legislative items will be regarded as being at the foot of that provision. See section 36B.

• Other material

Any explanatory memorandum, table of provisions, endnotes, index and other material printed after the Endnotes does not form part of a Statutory Rule. See section 36(3)(3D)(3E).

2 Table of Amendments

This publication incorporates amendments made to the Essential Services Commission (Energy Industry Penalty Regime) Regulations 2016 by statutory rules, subordinate instruments and Acts.

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Essential Services Commission (Energy Industry Penalty Regime) Amendment Regulations 2019, S.R. No. 128/2019

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3 Amendments Not in Operation

There are no amendments which were Not in Operation at the date of this publication.

4 Explanatory details

No entries at date of publication.