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Tariff AgreementTariff AgreementAurora's Standard Tariff Agreement forms the basis of our contract with you, our customer. The first section of this information is provided for your benefit. This information is not part of the Standard Tariff Agreement. The Standard Tariff Agreement is displayed following this first section, including a table of contents. This Agreement applies to all our customers, and forms the basis of our relationship. If you sign another contract with us (for example for a special product or service) some of the conditions listed here may be varied. If you would like a large print version of this document, or would like help with understanding how it applies to you, call us on 1300 13 2003. Where electricity lines and equipment become your responsibility
Your basic responsibilities as our customer
Please call 1300 13 2003 if you have any questions. Electrical safety - a paramount concernElectrical safety is very important to us. We are committed to your safety, and to the safety of our contractors and staff. You have a duty to ensure that all electrical work carried out on your property complies with relevant Acts and Regulations. Any work on your electrical installation must be performed by properly licensed people. Where safety is at issue, our staff may have to disconnect your electricity supply without notice. Before connecting a new electrical installation, or one that has been disconnected for more than six months, you must produce appropriate certification that the installation complies with the regulations. Trees that come into contact with overhead power lines can create a hazard. We can help you with information on which trees to plant near power lines, so that you can avoid these problems. Call 13 2004 for a free brochure. You must ensure that trees and other vegetation on your property are kept away from power lines and equipment. If you fail to do so, you will be liable for any damage caused or costs incurred. If the trees can contact our lines and cause a safety hazard, we may clear the line and charge you for the work. Note that it is an offence under the Electricity Supply Industry Act for an unauthorised person to tamper with equipment belonging to an electricity supplier. The Act includes penalties of up to $10 000 for such offences. Bringing your contract with us to an endIf you wish to end your contract please contact us. Charges will then cease at the time and date arranged providing you are no longer receiving electricity or services from us. Your contract will come to an end when all charges and any outstanding amounts due have been paid in full. Aurora Standard Tariff Agreement
1. IntroductionIn this Agreement, "we", "our", or "us" are used when referring to Aurora, and we use "you", or "your" when referring to you, our customer. When we refer to a day, we mean a normal business day, and normal hours means 9am to 5pm on a normal business day. This Agreement applies unless we have contracted otherwise with you, in writing. 2. Your contract with usThis Agreement forms the basis of our contract with you. Your contract with us also includes our current applicable schedule of prices (which will change from time to time), and our Customer Service Standards, which include information on:
Copies of these are available from us free upon request. This agreement applies from 1 October 1998 for existing customers, or from the day you apply to us for a new service. Anyone within our distribution area is entitled to a contract with us under this Agreement, provided they meet the required conditions for connection and supply and they are not a "contestable customer" as defined by the Electricity Supply Industry Act 1995 and Electricity Supply Industry (Contestable Customer) Regulations 2005. You will know if you are a contestable customer because we will advise you of such 9 months prior to becoming contestable and explain the options available to you. Depending on the circumstances, we may require you to pay a deposit or provide other forms of security before we supply you with electricity. Your contract with us is also subject to all relevant Acts, Regulations and Codes affecting electricity distribution and the electricity industry. Copies of these are available from the Printing Authority of Tasmania except for the Tasmanian Electricity Code, which may be obtained from the Office of the Tasmanian Energy Regulator, or viewed on its website. We may amend or replace this Agreement, subject to approval from the Regulator, and so vary our contract with you, at any time. When we do this, we will inform you of the specific changes concerned. If any change does not come to your notice, you will still be bound by your contract with us (as changed). A copy of our current Standard Tariff Agreement is always available from us free on request. 3. Access to informationYou may request from us any information which we hold regarding your contract with us. We will provide account status information free. We will not disclose your information to another person unless:
From time to time Aurora may find it necessary to pass on customer information to either the Hydro-Electric Corporation or Transend Networks in order to facilitate the allocation of revenue and costs. Aurora will require that this information be held by Hydro and Transend as confidential information. 4. Ownership and point of supplyElectricity you receive becomes your responsibility at the relevant point of supply. The point of supply is the point at which your lines, fittings, and equipment interconnect with our line, circuit-breaker, switch, fuse, or other isolating device forming part of our network. 5. Your basic responsibilitiesYou agree :
It is possible that the way you use electricity could interfere with the supply to other customers or affect our network. Your Electrical Contractor can help you with these matters if we raise them with you. You agree to take reasonable steps to ensure that this interference does not occur, by:
Please contact us or your Electrical Contractor for further explanation of these technical concepts. You agree that your supply may be disconnected if you fail to correct these and similar problems within a reasonable time of us raising them with you. You must provide, if requested, details of your connected or planned electrical loads. 6. Your responsibilities in relation to accessOur meter readers, service people and authorised contractors will identify themselves by way of an identification card bearing a photograph of the person and an Aurora logo. You agree:
7. Prices, charging, payment and bondsOur prices are set out in our current schedule of prices, which forms part of our contract with you. Our tariff prices have been approved by the Regulator. If we should alter our schedule of prices, we will publish the changes in the local newspapers. You may also be advised by letter or advice on your account. If however any change affecting you should not come to your notice, you will still be bound to pay our charges as altered. Our standard fees include: Connection, Re-connection, Meter test, Change of tariff, Application for supply, and Time switch adjustment. More information on these and other fees is in our price schedule, available free on request. Unless we agree, you cannot combine accounts from separate installations or from separate meters to take advantage of sliding scale price structures. Similarly you cannot use switching devices to swap supplies at different rates without our agreement. We will send you quarterly (or at such other intervals as we may agree with you), an account that sets out the charges payable by you for the period covered by the account. The account may also include charges for some other services or items provided at your request, or for which you have become liable, such as bank fees we incur as a result of dishonoured payments. Items not related to your electricity supply (such as poles you may have asked us to supply) will be charged on a separate account. Any amount due from you that is not paid by the due date shown on the account will be treated as being overdue, and you will then:
Our overdue account fee is approved by the Regulator from time to time. The rate of interest used is the Commonwealth Bank Corporate Overdraft Reference Rate, as set on 1 July each year. In addition, depending on your payment history, you may:
Any disconnection and reconnection fees, or other costs and expenses recoverable from you under our contract with you, may be included in your account. If after being disconnected for non-payment of an account you pay, or make arrangements to pay, all outstanding fees and charges, you have the right to be reconnected. We must make best efforts to reconnect you the same day, or if that is not possible, the next day. Before connecting your electricity supply, we may require you to pay a bond. If your connection is for business purposes, we may require a bond if:
If your connection is for residential purposes, we may require a bond if:
The amount of the bond will be 1.5 times the estimated account for quarterly accounts, or 2 times the estimated account for monthly accounts. Bond money will be managed in a trust account with interest paid, and refunded:
The interest rate paid will be the Commonwealth Bank money market call account interest rate, as set on 1 July each year. We will accept an interest bearing deposit or a bank guarantee in our name in stead of a bond if you wish. 8. Estimates of electricity usageWe may need to estimate your electricity consumption in any of the following cases:
You may be charged for up to three successive quarters (or more in the case of electricity theft) on the basis of our best estimate of the amount of electricity that we believe has been supplied to you in those periods. In charging on this basis, we will have regard to the actual amount of electricity supplied to the premises or property concerned (whether or not you were then the owner or occupier) in any previously comparable period. We will also have regard for the period of time you were the occupier, and the differences in consumption patterns between you and any other occupier. Where you have received an account based on an estimate of electricity usage, the next account based on an actual meter reading will be adjusted for the actual electricity usage during the period or periods concerned. However, if instead of an account based on an estimate you should require an account based on an actual reading, you may request that we read the meter prior to the due date on the account. You will be charged the scheduled fee for this service, and we will then send an adjusted account to you. We will make every effort to ensure that your first account is based on an actual meter reading. If we find that we continually have difficulties reading the meter we may require that you move it, install a remote reading device, or remedy the situation in some other agreed way. 9. Queries or disputes about charges or servicesIf you have any queries or complaints about our service to you, please contact us to discuss the matter immediately. If you would like to dispute any charge, you should contact us immediately. We will propose arbitration, mediation or negotiation, either direct or before the Ombudsman, for the amount you dispute which we consider to be justifiably disputed. If you pay the balance of the account (or make satisfactory arrangements with us to pay), the disputed amount will be arbitrated, mediated or negotiated in terms as agreed between you and us. The disputed amount will be payable, if at all, on conclusion of the arbitration, mediation or negotiation process. If the issue is determined in your favour, and the amount or item queried or in dispute has already been paid by you, we will then either credit your account with any refund due (including interest), or send you a refund, as you may choose. However, if it is determined that the charge is correct, you agree to pay the amount concerned within ten business days of the date of the written advice of the decision. If payment in full is not made within that ten business day period, it will be treated as overdue in accordance with section 7. Alternatively, if you dispute the amount of an account, and make a complaint to the Ombudsman, then the matter will be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Energy Ombudsman Act 1998. 10. MeteringUnless special arrangements are made, we will be responsible for selecting, installing and maintaining metering equipment in respect of each point of supply at your premises or property You are responsible for providing and maintaining suitable fireproof mounting and protection arrangements for our metering equipment, including a panel and weatherproof enclosure. Your Electrical Contractor can help you with this. If you wish you may install your own meters to check the operation of our metering. If you do, you must notify us. Your Electrical Contractor's Electrical Installation Notice will be adequate notification. 11. Accuracy of meteringUnless other arrangements are made between us, we will maintain the meters to all regulated requirements. We will ensure that your meters are accurate to the applicable industry standard. The standard for domestic and small commercial premises is currently 2%. Metering equipment on your premises or property may be checked by us, or by a meter testing contractor on our behalf, at any time during normal hours. You may also request that your meters be checked, in which case the cost of such checking will be charged to you, but that cost will be refunded or credited to you if the meter, on being tested, fails to meet the applicable industry standard. Where metering equipment requires repair or replacement we will make the appropriate arrangements, and the cost will be borne by the owner of the metering equipment. Where a meter is shown to have been inaccurate, we will estimate your consumption in terms of section 8 for the period in which the meter was not performing to standard. If as a result we find that you have overpaid us, we will credit the amount of the overpayment (with interest) on your next account or send you a refund, as you may choose. The interest rate used will be the Commonwealth Bank money market call account interest rate, as set on 1 July each year. If we find you have underpaid us, we will estimate the amount owing and include it on your next account. 12. Tampering with metering equipment, lines, etcIf we find that the metering equipment or metering data for your premises or property (or any associated lines or equipment) has been tampered with, or that there has been any other interference such that we consider that your electricity usage has not been measured accurately, you agree that we will be entitled to disconnect your electricity supply. If, following disconnection of your electricity supply, we agree to resume electricity supply to you, any resumption may (at our discretion) be on condition that you pay a reconnection fee, together with the full cost of repairing or replacing any damaged property, or of making the installation safe. You also agree to pay our reasonable assessment of any loss we have incurred from a shortfall in recorded consumption as a result of the tampering during the period of your occupancy, together with interest calculated as though the account was overdue. 13. Unmetered connectionsFor very small or constant loads, such as electric fences and traffic lights, we may supply electricity without a meter. If you are receiving an unmetered supply you must advise us of any change in your electrical load ahead of that change occurring. If we find that your electrical load has increased, or our equipment has been overloaded without there being any prior notification to us, then we will be entitled to recover from you any additional scheduled fees as assessed by us, and any reasonable costs necessarily expended by us as a result. 14. Lines and equipmentThe point of supply, unless we agree otherwise, is defined in section 4. We will be responsible for maintaining our lines up to the point of supply for your premises or property, and for the installation and maintenance of any other equipment and systems of ours, which we use in supplying you with electricity. You are responsible for complying with all relevant legislation and maintaining in a safe condition, all lines, fittings, and equipment (other than any owned by us) on your side of the point of supply for your premises or property. You must ensure that your installation is adequate and effectively coordinated with our supply system. Your Electrical Contractor can help you with these matters. In the case of an overhead service, you will provide suitable facilities for connecting our service cable and mounting our equipment. 15. Trees and safety-related maintenance workYou will keep all trees and vegetation on your property away from our lines and equipment. If you fail to do so you will be liable to us for any damage caused or costs incurred. If we notify you of a requirement to clear vegetation from our lines and equipment, and the work is not carried out within the time required in the notice, we may undertake the work and charge you for it. In addition, you agree to meet Aurora's reasonable charges for all safety-related work and for repairing our lines, fuses, meters or equipment, where the problem has been caused by some action taken by you, or by someone for whom you are responsible, or by some omission or failure to act for which we may reasonably hold you responsible. 16. Electrical safetyBefore connecting a new electrical installation or one that has been switched off for more than six months, you must produce an Electrical Contractor's certification that the installation complies with the relevant regulations. Where no such certificate is able to be produced, we will not connect the installation concerned until we have either sighted a certificate of compliance or have ourselves certified the installation at your cost. If at any time it comes to our notice that any poles, lines, trees near lines, fittings, equipment, installation, or appliance on your premises or property is unsafe or does not comply with the relevant legislation, and corrective action should be taken, we may disconnect your electricity supply. Before taking any such action we will endeavour to give you such prior notice as we consider appropriate in the circumstances, although in some circumstances no prior notice may be possible. Following any such disconnection, we will not be obliged to resume electricity supply until, at your expense, you have taken all steps and done all things necessary to make the site safe, or to comply with all relevant legislation. 17. Interruption of supplyThe Electricity Supply Industry Act 1995 provides that we are not obliged to maintain supply in all circumstances. Your supply of electricity may be interrupted:
We will give you reasonable prior notice, although in emergencies it will not always be possible. 18. Damage to appliances or sensitive equipmentWe aim to provide you with a safe, reliable, and good quality service which meets the standards specified by the Tasmanian Electricity Code. However the very nature of electricity is such that we are unable to guarantee quality of supply at all times. It is an inevitable feature of electricity supply that there will from time to time be random power surges and power dips or brown outs. These may cause consequent damage to appliances or machines connected to the supply at the time of the surge or dip. In some instances these surges or dips may result from factors outside Aurora's control. Examples are storm damage to the distribution or transmission system, branches falling across the wires, wildlife coming in contact with equipment, bushfires, motor vehicle accidents or vandalism. Where injury or damage to your property results from such factors, Aurora may not necessarily be liable for compensation. Protection If you wish to protect your appliances from possible surge or power dip damage, or you have sensitive equipment, or conduct operations, which require a continuous supply of electricity, and therefore require a supply, which is not affected by fluctuations in frequency or voltage, you are strongly advised to install protective devices. Your electrical Contractor will be able to help with advice. Insurance If you feel you require it, you are responsible for placing and maintaining in effect all appropriate insurance to cover you for any damage or loss that you might suffer due to any failure of your electricity supply, or any interruption to it, or fluctuations affecting it. 19. Compensation and liabilityWhere personal injury or damage to your property results from Aurora not taking reasonable care (negligence) we will pay you reasonable damages. Except as set out in this paragraph, and subject to any statutory provisions, including the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth), that bind us, we will not be liable for any loss or damage suffered by any person arising out of or in connection with this contract. 20. Disconnection and resumption of supplyWe may disconnect your electricity supply without terminating our contract with you in circumstances provided by the Electricity Supply Industry (Tariff Customers) Regulations 1998. These circumstances are:
You agree, as a condition of supply, that if you change premises, any unpaid amounts for electricity consumption at previous premises may be included in the account for the new premises. If these amounts remain unpaid, we may disconnect those new premises. Before disconnecting your electricity supply under this section, we will give you five business days notice. Non-receipt of this notice, or any failure on your part to attend to it, will not mean that we will not be entitled to take the action notified. In matters of safety or emergency we may not be able to give notice. We will not disconnect your electricity supply for non-payment of an overdue amount where the matter is the subject of a query or dispute referred to us in terms of section 9, or referred to the Ombudsman, until a decision has been made on the matter. If, following disconnection of your electricity supply, we should agree to resume supply, we may before doing so require you to pay a reconnection fee. If you were disconnected for non-payment, we may also require you to provide a bond (or to increase the amount of any deposit or bond already held by us), or to provide any security (including, for business customers, a guarantee) to secure future payments by you. See section 7 for details. If we disconnect you under any of the above conditions, we will not be liable for any of your loss or damage. 21. Application of this Standard Tariff AgreementSo long as it remains operative, this Standard Tariff Agreement (as it may be changed from time to time) will continue to apply until it is terminated in accordance with this agreement, regardless of whether you change your address. 22. Terms separately bindingIf for any reason any part of this Agreement cannot be enforced or relied upon by us, either in a particular circumstance or generally, that will not affect the other provisions, which remain binding. 23. Assignment and delegationYou may not assign or transfer to anyone else any of your obligations or responsibilities under this Agreement, or under any contract of which this Agreement forms the basis. We may subcontract or delegate the performance of any of our responsibilities under this Agreement, or under the contract of which this Agreement forms the basis, to any other person or party. 24. TerminationIf you should fail to meet your responsibilities under your contract with us, we may send a written notice to you setting out the nature of the breach, the steps that we require you to take to remedy such breach, and the time within which the breach is to be remedied. If you fail to comply with the notice, we may then cancel our contract with you by further notice sent to you. Such cancellation will not, however, release you from any outstanding obligations or responsibilities owed to us. Termination does not mean that you cannot be re-connected or that you cannot establish a new contract with us. If you should wish to terminate your contract with us, please advise us. You must give us at least two business days notice so that a final meter reading may be arranged. Charges will then cease at the particular time and date you may arrange with us, and your contract with us will then come to an end when all charges and any outstanding amounts due to us have been paid in full. This contract is also subject to termination under certain circumstances as set out in the Electricity Supply Industry Act 1995 and Electricity Supply Industry Act (Contestable Customer) Regulations 2005, should you become a contestable customer. We will advise you 9 months in advance of becoming a contestable customer and explain the options available to you. 25. What to do if you are movingIf you are moving, you agree to give us at least two business days notice so that we can carry out a final reading of the meter at the address you are leaving. You also agree to give us your new address, or a forwarding address, before you move. You agree that any amounts owed to us for previous premises may be included in the account for the new premises, and if not paid may lead to disconnection of those new premises. Should you vacate your premises but fail to notify us, you will continue to be liable for electricity consumed until we have received notice and a final meter reading has been arranged. 26. Change of circumstancesYou will be supplied at the tariff rate(s) initially agreed between us. If your circumstances subsequently change, you may become eligible for an alternative tariff or rebate, or your existing tariff may no longer be applicable. It is your responsibility to advise us in writing of any relevant change to your circumstances. 27. Your addressWe will send all accounts and notices to you at the last address you have given us. We will be entitled to assume that any account or notice delivered or sent to you will reach you within three business days of its dispatch. 28. How to contact AuroraWe provide a range of "1300" and "13" telephone numbers so that you never have to pay more than a local call. Contact us by telephoneResidential Customers New electricity supply Business Customers Emergencies and Faults Contact us via this online form. You can also write to us at: Our customer commitmentAurora's Guarantees (located at the bottom of every page of our site) outlines our service guarantees on connections, appointments, repair work, our telephone dealings with you and account payments. If you think that our service has failed to meet any of our standards, we need to know. We’d also appreciate compliments about our service so that we can pass them on to the people involved. Please use the form below to register your feedback with us, or alternatively you can use freecall 1800 800 753. Please tell us about your compliment/complaint, including :
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