Today marks a significant milestone for the Australian energy industry.

For the first time, Australians can gain unique insights into improvements by generators, transmission companies, distributors and retailers to provide better services and to put their customers first.

Formed in January this year, the Energy Charter is a CEO-led initiative of 18 Australian energy companies. This is the first time that all parts of the energy supply chain have come together and committed to a disclosure framework to help deliver a more affordable, reliable and sustainable energy system for all Australians. Importantly, each company has reviewed how they can support cultural change within their own business and as an industry.

Today, a recently formed Independent Accountability Panel will commence a period of public consultation after receiving disclosure reports from the 18 signatories.

Chair of the Energy Charter CEO Council, John Cleland, said the energy industry has recognised that it needs to do better and the independent panel process will provide further guidance, discussion and motivation for the signatories.

“This is a milestone for the Australian energy industry and those companies that have opted to be involved. For the first time, companies are coming together to see how they can better support customers,” said Mr Cleland.

“Together with Energy Consumers Australia and other end-user representatives, we have recognised that there’s a long way to go in this space, and that things won’t change overnight, but this is an important shift towards a greater understanding of customer needs.”

The Independent Accountability Panel will now review the disclosures. The CEOs of the Energy Charter signatories will meet with the panel over coming weeks to discuss their respective disclosures.

Mr Cleland added that this was also an opportunity for energy customers to see for themselves the positive changes already put in place by the signatories.

“The Energy Charter was established in recognition that the industry was undergoing a period of tremendous change and needed to transform its approach to customers,” Mr Cleland said.

“While there are many opinions about the Australian energy industry, the fact that so many Boards, CEOs, Managing Directors and senior executives have been engaged in the Energy Charter is a reflection on how seriously we are taking this. We are committed to being more open, accountable and doing more to listen to our customers.”

The Independent Accountability Panel’s period of public consultation will include CEO briefings and stakeholder forums to be held in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne in October. Written submissions about the signatories’ disclosures will be accepted by the panel until 25 October.

The Independent Accountability Panel’s report will be published at the end of November.

For more information visit: www.theenergycharter.com.au.

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By John Cleland, Chair of the Energy Charter CEO Council

Today marks a huge milestone for the Energy Charter, as disclosures from eighteen energy companies describe in detail how we are individually and collectively striving to deliver a more affordable, sustainable and reliable energy system for all Australians. Our vision is together, deliver energy for a better Australia.

As Chair of the Energy Charter CEO Council, it is a privilege to liaise with all the diverse energy companies whose CEOs have signed onto this journey of continuous improvement with the potential to benefit millions of Australian homes and businesses.

Signatories have submitted their first-ever disclosures which provide unique insights into their actions, plans and ambitions to improve services and performance for customers.

My CEO colleagues have shared that the work to compile the disclosure documents has spurred internal conversations right up to Board level on topics such as:

• How can we put customers at the centre of our business and the energy system?
• What can we do to improve affordability and customer experience for all Australians?
• How can we better support customers facing vulnerability?
• What can we do to ensure that we provide energy safety, sustainability and reliably in line with customer expectations?

These are all crucial questions that will now be analysed by the Independent Accountability Panel through a series of CEO meetings taking place in October. Parallel stakeholder forums are also being held in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, and an online public consultation process is taking place that is open to the entire community. These CEO and Stakeholder forums will provide unique opportunity for us to listen, learn and improve.

What’s next?

The report from the Independent Accountability Panel at the end of November will enable energy companies to reflect on their current performance and explore how they can improve customer outcomes.

While we are only at the beginning and we have a lot of work yet to do, we celebrate the commitment and good faith of these initial steps. There is already greater transparency and authentic conversations happening that will drive innovative improvements for our customers. Today was a step towards that collective objective, so thank you to everyone for their efforts to move the focus of our sector in 2019 and deliver better customer outcomes for the future.

An independent Accountability Panel has been appointed to review many of Australia’s key energy businesses under the Energy Charter. The Panel consists of Dr Cassandra Goldie (consumer representative), Mr Andrew Richards (commercial and industrial representative) and Mr Philip Weickhardt (industry representative) who join the Chair, Dr Wendy Craik AM.

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More than 10 million Australian energy customers are set to benefit after the launch of a world-first, cross-sector energy industry framework focussed on better customer outcomes.

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