Have your say on how prices are set in embedded networks

IPART the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal NSW has been asked by the NSW Government to recommend an appropriate maximum price for the sale of electricity, gas and hot or chilled water to customers in embedded networks. They want to hear from residents living in residential land lease communities who are living or previously lived in an embedded network.

Our Outasite lite 43 highlighted some of the electricity issues faced by residents in land lease communities. In this article we also outlined our submission to the NSW Government Law and Safety Committee inquiry into embedded networks in NSW. In our submission we outlined the numerous issues that residents in land lease communities were facing where their electricity was supplied to them by the operator or a third party provider through an embedded network.  

The IPART review of embedded network prices is another important opportunity to raise the issues faced by residents in embedded networks to ensure they are understood and taken into account in any policy or legislative changes to embedded networks. This IPART review is one of the reforms to come out of the NSW Law and Safety Committee Inquiry. Other reforms are being delivered under the NSW Embedded Network Action Plan. An important aim of the Action Plan is to ensure equal access for embedded network customers to government emergency financial support. This is very important as residents are facing increasing costs for their electricity. If you want to read more about the NSW Embedded Network Action Plan follow this link. 

We encourage all residents living in embedded networks to complete the IPART survey or submit a submission. The closing date for the survey and submitting a submission is the 11th September 2023. 

The survey asks questions about  issues you have encountered as an embedded network customer, your views on how maximum prices should be set and if you have ever tried to leave the embedded network. They are also encouraging consumers to upload copies of your recent bills and we encourage you to do this to help IPART understand the prices that residents are paying for electricity supplied through an embedded network. 

The Tenants Union view is that the maximum price that a resident can be charged for the supply of electricity should be no more than the median retail market offer made by the communities network service provider. This provides a reasonable price for residents to pay and provides funds for the operator to manage their electricity embedded networks. We do not support the default market offer being used as the maximum that a resident can be charged for electricity supply in a land lease community. 

IPART is holding a stakeholder online workshop on the 21st September 2023 and you can register here for the workshop. We hope to see residents from RLLC submitting responses to the survey and attending the online workshop. If you have any questions or need any further information please get in touch with Eloise Parrab, Land Lease Communities Officer at the Tenants Union on 02 8117 3700.