{"id":104833,"date":"2025-07-15T17:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T07:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/?p=104833"},"modified":"2025-07-15T17:10:28","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T07:10:28","slug":"synergy-to-repay-2-29m-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/synergy-to-repay-2-29m-customers\/","title":{"rendered":"Synergy to Repay $2.29M After Charging Ex-Customers for Years via Centrelink"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thousands of vulnerable customers across Western Australia were overcharged for electricity by Synergy<\/strong>. The state-owned utility has admitted the error and pledged full reimbursement dating back to 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An investigation by the state\u2019s economic regulator has uncovered a prolonged failure in customer billing systems. The overcharging affected Centrelink recipients, many of whom had closed their Synergy accounts but continued to have payments deducted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA<\/a>), Synergy\u2014the largest energy retailer in Western Australia\u2014improperly withdrew funds from up to 2,845 customers via Centrepay, a government-run service that automates bill payments from Centrelink support payments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue spans more than a decade, with total overpayments amounting to $2.29 million. Despite regulatory constraints that would compel repayment to just 459 customers<\/strong> who were affected after February 2023, Synergy has committed to reimbursing all impacted individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long-Term Failure in Payment Oversight<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The ERA’s review revealed that Synergy continued withdrawing money from Centrelink<\/strong> recipients even after their electricity accounts had been closed. According to the regulator, more than 1,000 customers were each owed over $500<\/strong>, with about half of the total refunds valued at $250 or less<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a particularly concerning breach,\u201d said ERA chair Steve Edwell<\/strong>, \u201cgiven Synergy\u2019s position as the largest retailer in the state and the vulnerability of this cohort of customers<\/a>.\u201d He added that proper systems should have flagged the continuation of payments on inactive accounts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ERA\u2019s findings indicate that Synergy began contacting affected customers in April<\/strong>, and approximately 30 per cent of the funds<\/strong> owed have so far been returned. The utility has been instructed to complete repayments to the 459 most recent cases by November<\/strong> and undertake a full review of its systems to ensure safeguards are in place going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Political Fallout and Response<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The matter has prompted political concern, with Shadow Energy Minister Steve Thomas<\/strong> questioning the government\u2019s handling of the situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Thomas, Synergy became aware of the breach in December 2024<\/strong> but delayed notifying customers. \u201cSimply saying our systems are complex does not pass the pub test,\u201d he said, calling for more transparency and accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson<\/strong> confirmed that an independent review<\/strong> of all billing systems at Synergy had been launched. \u201cCustomers using Centrepay should have confidence the system is working in their best interests,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Synergy CEO Kurt Baker<\/strong>, newly appointed to the role, the utility is taking \u201cimmediate steps\u201d to identify all affected customers and will conduct a \u201cthorough review\u201d to avoid future incidents. He apologised on behalf of the company, acknowledging that vulnerable customers had been \u201clet down\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Western Australia\u2019s biggest power provider, Synergy, has admitted to overcharging thousands of former customers for over a decade\u2014many of them receiving Centrelink support. A regulatory investigation has exposed a serious billing flaw involving inactive accounts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":104835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-welfare","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104833"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104836,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104833\/revisions\/104836"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}