Retailer of Last Resort supply fee for small retail customers

When an electricity retailer in NSW withdraws from the market, all of their residential customers are automatically transferred to retailers of last resort (RoLR). The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) is currently reviewing the fee that each RoLR can charge customers for being transferred to them. In its submission to the RoLR fee review, PIAC has argued that the current fee structure is inappropriate, in that retailers that trigger a RoLR event do not bear any of the costs involved. Amongst other recommendations, PIAC has suggested that a RoLR fund should be established, contributed to across industry so that the burden of RoLR costs is more equitably shared amongst the retailers; or that each retailer maintains its own fund covering the cost of transferring its customers, thereby acting as a disincentive for them to withdraw from delivering an essential service.