Time running out on trial to protect vulnerable electricity consumers from from El Niño heatwave

Governments have just a few months left to launch a trial to protect Australians who use prepaid electricity meters from being disconnected during extreme heat periods. 

But time is running out, as at least one government’s efforts are still in the earliest stages. 

With the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecasting the strongest EL Niño cycle ever seen, fears are rising that government inaction may cost lives. 

Last year, Original Power led a call for a trial that would stop electricity being cut off to homes using prepaid meters when the mercury passes 40ºC, and in equatorial zones with higher humidity when it reaches 35ºC.

Crucially residents would not to be charged for this.

The cost of making retailers whole is estimated at just $1.5 million, says Original Power’s Lauren Mellor in an episode of Solar Insiders today. 

“We brought that to the federal government because we believe this problem is too big for any one government or retailer necessarily to solve, and that this needs to be led by the federal government,” she says.

“We do need to see leadership and action taken at a retailer level to implement this. They do have a responsibility to provide essential services to all customers. Where we’re seeing the inability to afford electricity during these extreme events, we do need to see governments and retailers working together to make sure that protection exists.”

But while the proposal was made in November last year and was taken up by the federal government’s special envoy for climate change adaptation and resilience Kate Thwaites, the process appears to have stalled, Mellor says.

And statements sourced from the responsible retailers and providers in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, suggest vulnerable Australians cannot rely on the trial going ahead this summer. 

Jacana Energy, the largest government-owned retailer in the Northern Territory, and the territory’s water and electricity utility Power and Water Corp, are both participating in government-led discussions around such a trial. 

The Northern Territory governments did not respond to questions about the proposed trial before publication.

The federal government responded four days after publication, with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water issuing an email saying only that it is “working with relevant states and territories to consider the best way to address the high rates of electricity disconnections.”

Jacana reveals how early stage those talks are in the territory.

“The work is currently at the scoping stage and will consider how additional protections could operate during periods of extreme heat,” the statement sent to Renew Economy says.

“Any decision to proceed with a trial, including its design, funding and timing, would be subject to government consideration. Jacana will continue to work with the Northern Territory government as this work progresses.”

Slow progress may be better than what may, or may not be happening in Western Australia, however.

Western Australia is “working with the Commonwealth” on the details, according to a statement from the energy department.

Horizon Power, which looks after the top end of the state, declined to respond to specific questions about a heatwave trial. It already has an option of a temporary moratorium on disconnections during emergencies, but it’s unclear whether heatwaves fall under this category.

Prepaid electricity leaves tens of thousands of First Nations households regularly disconnected from power, sometimes dozens of times a year, according to last year’s Right to Power report which included the heat wave protection recommendation.

Prepayment works like a prepaid phone households top up their meter with credit, often by physically travelling to a store. 

In the Northern Territory, there’s no app so when the credit hits zero, the supply cuts automatically, often without warning.

Retailers also have less data on vulnerable customers which means customer protections around hardship or health that are standard in the rest of Australia, are not guaranteed for First Nations communities. 

A statement from Power and Water Corp says the trial is about delaying disconnections during periods of extreme heat.

It has provided technical and operational advice on how it could be done, and says it’s also improving consumer protections “including enhanced hardship measures and reporting”.

The real question is: even if the cost is higher than $1.5 million a year, why is a disconnection ban not already in place.

Mellor points out that Australia’s hot extremes are only going to get harder as climate change gets worse.

“Our summers are not going to get any easier for communities,” she says.

“The more that government ignores this, the more that we will see crises like we’re starting to see across remote communities just compound and compound to the point that we’re adding already to the nature of the disaster seasons that we’re seeing.”

* This article has been updated with the late respond from the federal DCCEEW.