Energy regulator bans another company over doctored photos, false claims

The Victorian government’s energy regulator, the Essential Services Commission, has banned a second company in as many weeks for allegedly using doctored photos as evidence of completion of energy efficiency projects.

The Essential Services Commission (ESC) said on Wednesday that it has cancelled the Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) accreditation of Planetwise Solutions Pty Ltd after a review upheld a previous Commission decision to cancel the company’s VEU accreditation and refuse registration of 662 allegedly non-compliant certificates.

According to the Commission, Planetwise allegedly submitted doctored photos of decommissioned lights as evidence for multiple projects to fraudulently claim Victorian energy efficient certificates.

The Commission claims that the submitted photos showed lights that appeared to be digitally edited into the image.

Citing the “serious nature” of the alleged conduct, the Commission said it “no longer views Planetwise Solutions to be a fit and proper, or competent and capable person for the purposes of accreditation under the program.”

The ESC says that it will continue to investigate Planetwise Solutions and “will consider additional enforcement action.” The Commission also refused registration of 662 Victorian energy efficient certificates valued at $52,894.

This follows the original decision in October to order Planetwise to surrender 773 certificates valued at $61,763, at which time the Commission suspended Planetwise Solutions after the initial investigation identified concerning conduct.

Planetwise subsequently appealed for a review, which was completed on February 9, upholding the Commission’s original decision.

“Submitting false evidence is a flagrant and serious breach of program rules,” said Gerard Brody, Essential Services Commission chairperson and commissioner.

“This is why we were quick to suspend and now ban Planetwise Solutions, while we consider additional action.

“We were able to identify Planetwise Solutions’ non-compliance through our rigorous assessment of certificates created for upgrades. The system works – if you break the rules, there are consequences.

“We’re monitoring the VEU program closer than ever to uncover wrongdoing, including establishing a new Fraud Taskforce and undertaking more site inspections.”

The announcement comes two weeks after another company, Save Energy Solutions Pty Ltd, was similarly divested of its VEU accreditation after it allegedly submitted doctored photos of heat pump water heater installations as evidence for multiple projects to falsely claim certificates.

Save Energy Solutions was ordered to surrender or was refused registration of 1,920 Victorian energy efficiency certificates, valued at $154,080.

The Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) is the state government’s energy efficiency program designed to help households cut their energy bills. Accredited businesses undertake energy efficiency upgrades that in turn allow them to create Victorian energy efficiency certificates, which they can sell.

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