Synergy—Closed accounts—Payments
837. Hon Dr Steve Thomas to the Leader of the House representing the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation:
I refer to Synergy's acceptance of payments for closed accounts for nearly 174,000 residential and commercial customers for a total of $40 million made public last Friday.
(1) On what specific date was the minister first advised of this brand-damaging $40 million overcharge debacle? Who advised the minister and in what format?
(2) Were any of the payments made to closed Synergy accounts after 14 July 2025 when the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA) made public its report on the payments to closed accounts for Centrepay customers?
(3) If yes to (2), why was the system not immediately corrected to prevent payments to closed Synergy accounts?
(4) On what specific date did Synergy become aware that there were more cases of payments to closed accounts?
(5) Did Synergy only become aware as a result of the review after the 14 July report?
Hon Stephen Dawson replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1) A potential wider overpayment issue was raised by Synergy in July, following which the minister instigated an independent review. The reviewers provided an interim report on the overpayment issue on 17 September 2025.
(2) Yes.
(3) There are varying methods of customer-initiated payments. This required Synergy to take steps to develop appropriate systems and processes for each payment method.
(4)–(5) While investigating the Centrepay overpayment issue, Synergy became aware of a potential broader billing issue.
