Annual Performance Report 2010-11 SA Energy Supply Industry
The Commission has released its 2010/11 Annual Performance Report for the regulated electricity and gas supply industries in South Australia. This is the 12th report in a series of reports released by the Commission.
The 2010/11 Annual Performance Report focuses on three main areas: the performance of electricity and gas retailers serving the small customer (residential and small business) segment of the energy retail market in South Australia; the performance of the regulated energy network businesses - ETSA Utilities (electricity distribution), Envestra (gas distribution) and ElectraNet (electricity transmission); and the degree of compliance by regulated entities with the Commission’s regulatory compliance and enforcement regime.
Key issues highlighted in the report are:
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During 2010/11, the energy sector continued to perform well in general. Many of the key performance metrics established by the Commission through the regulatory framework were met by licensees. To the extent there remain concerns over some areas of performance, the Commission is committed to working collaboratively with energy licensees. In the case of energy retailers, to work collaboratively over the coming months to ensure that, in the transition to the new national framework, regulatory compliance is maintained.
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Some areas of concern in the level of performance by licensed energy entities during 2010/11 include:
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Retailers: Substantial increase in reported customer complaints, in part driven by improved retailer reporting systems, with the Commission initiating a review of this issue. Whilst there was a significant improvement in the level of retailer and telephone responsiveness, the Commission considers that it is time that offending retailers had appropriate contingency plans in place to deal with most overload situations and therefore achieve these annual standards.
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ETSA Utilities: Supply reliability performance again fell short of targets in 2010/11, impacted by extreme weather events. Whilst the Commission acknowledges the efforts being taken by ETSA Utilities to improve service restoration times, it remains of the view that ETSA Utilities still needs to address the duration of interruptions in the Upper North and Eyre region. The Commission will also undertake a review of the content and application of ETSA Utilities’ complaints and disputes resolution policy, following the increase in complaints referred to the Energy Industry Ombudsman.
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Envestra: The level of gas losses from the distribution network remains high, but reporting against a new standard commenced in 2011/12.
Further developments occurred in the regulatory environment during 2010/11, with the National Energy Customer Framework Bills receiving Royal Assent in March 2011 after passage through the South Australian Parliament: the new set of nationally consistent rules for the regulation of retailer-distributor-customer relationships. Even when this customer framework is implemented, which is anticipated to be in 2012, the Commission will continue to perform some functions in the energy area, such as the setting of energy retail standing contract prices and the licensing of electricity network and generation businesses and the gas distributor.
There is a marked change in the style and presentation of this year’s Annual Performance Report, with a focus on improving customer accessibility.
Accompanying the release of the 2010-11 Annual Performance Report are short ‘report card’ style papers that concentrate on specific aspects of energy market performance, designed to enable interested parties to more easily locate performance results in areas of particular interest, covering:
Also included is an Energy Price Fact Sheet.
Detailed time series data is provided in a Statistical Appendix, which covers retail and network performance data, which is designed to assist researchers and other persons with an interest in examining specific results and trends.
The data relating to the detail of performance for each of the Low Reliability Electricity Distribution Feeders is provided as part of the Statistical Appendix.
Finally, a summary of Current and Past Energy Retail Licensees, which was originally an appendix to the APR, is located on the Retail Licences page.
