Government dividend rebate announced

The Queensland Government has finalised the requirements for the upcoming 2020 Dividend payment, with the credit to be applied to eligible residential customer accounts on 31 August 2020, with customers to start seeing the Dividend on electricity bills from early September 2020, depending on when their next bill falls due.

As per previous arrangements, applying the $50 Dividend as a one-off credit on customers' accounts on a single date minimises the risk of 'lost' or 'duplicate' payments - for example, as a result of customers moving in and out.

Payment Process for Customers of a Retailer

Consistent with previous arrangements, the approach for applying the Dividend to residential retail customers will be as follows:

• Retailers are to apply the $50 (GST exempt) Dividend to all residential customers they are financially responsible for, being those customers with an active electricity account on 31 August 2020.
• Retailers are to credit the rebate to the customers' bill that covers this date, highlighted as a separate item with the wording: "Qld Govt Asset Ownership Dividend," or similar.
• Retailers will be reimbursed based on the bulk claims they submit to the Concessions team - Smart Service Queensland (SSQ) for total expenditure of the Asset Ownership Dividend provided (i.e. $50 x number of customers, including customers in embedded networks).

Payment Process for Customers in Embedded Networks:

Also consistent with previous arrangements, the approach for applying the Dividend to residential embedded network customers will be as follows:

• Lodging a claim for Dividend payments with your electricity retailer
• Embedded network owner/operators (ENOs) are to notify their retailer by 14 August 2020 of the number of occupied households they expect to have in their embedded network on 31 August 2020, using Form 517 (download here). Early lodgement by ENOs will assist retailers to credit accounts in a timely manner, however forms can be submitted after this date.
• Some electricity retailers have offered a preferred contact to submit the relevant form for payment (refer table below). For others where a specific contact is not listed, please contact your retailer for the appropriate method to submit the required form.
• The value of the rebate will appear as a bulk credit on the ENO's next electricity bill issued after the relevant form is lodged with the retailer. It will NOT be made as a separate payment from the retailer.
• Paying the Dividend to an ENO's customers
• Each ENO, or their respective billing agent, is to apply the $50 Dividend payment to each residence with an open electricity account on 31 August 2020, on the bill/invoice issued immediately after receiving the retailer's credits. ENOs may choose to apply the $50 Dividend to eligible accounts prior to receiving the bulk credit on the bill from their retailer.
• The Dividend is to be displayed as a $50 credit on the bill, with the text "Qld Govt Asset Ownership Dividend" or similar.
• Households should receive the full benefit of the Dividend (i.e., the payment is not diminished by any GST calculations on the bill). A customer's account is able to go into credit as a result of the application of the Dividend.
• Failure to pass on the Dividend in full to residents is a breach of the ENO's exemption conditions with the Australian Energy Regulator.

The Department recognises that, in some cases, following the lodgement of claims by the ENO to the retailer in mid-August, there may be a small number of changes in the number of the ENO's active residential accounts on 31 August 2020. Where this situation arises, ENOs are requested to notify their retailer and submit a reconciliation claim using the same Form 517. Retailers will critically assess information on any reconciliation claim, and apply relevant adjustments to the next bill.

The forms referred to above (and attached) are also available to download from the Department of Communities, Disability Services and Seniors website (click here).

List of retailer contacts to lodge Form 517 claims for the $50 Asset Ownership Dividend:

Name of Retailer	Email address to submit Form 517
Energy Australia	businessenq@energyaustralia.com.au
1st Energy	accounts@1stenergy.com.au
Click Energy/Amaysin	mmacumber@clickenergy.com.au
AGL/Powerdirect	qldassetdividend@agl.com.au
Ergon	rebates@ergon.com.au
Origin Energy	BusinessCustomers@originenergy.com.au
Alinta	Qldconcessions@mail1.alintaenergy.com.au
Red and Lumo	stefanie.monaco@redenergy.com.au
Qenergy	concessions@qenergy.com.au
Powershop	alistair.lepp@powershop.com.au
Mojo	hello@mojopower.com
Sanctuary	Info@sanctuaryenergy.com.au
Simply Energy	commercialsales@simplyenergy.com.au
Meridian Energy	james.ell@meridianenergy.com.au
Momentum Energy	Concessions@momentum.com.au

 

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