{"id":36596,"date":"2020-02-03T11:32:09","date_gmt":"2020-02-03T01:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=36596"},"modified":"2025-01-02T09:19:01","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T23:49:01","slug":"new-energy-tech-consumer-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/new-energy-tech-consumer-code\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Energy Tech Consumer Code & The Battle To Purge ‘Interest Free Deals’ From Solar"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Solar

There’s a new solar code of conduct on the horizon, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) credit providers are not happy with it.<\/p><\/div>\n

The ‘CEC Approved Solar Retailer’ (ASR) scheme, a code of conduct for solar companies, may soon be obsolete. I think that’s a good thing.<\/p>\n

What started as an excellent voluntary code soon descended in to farce as the CEC successfully worked with the Victorian Government to make it ‘de facto mandatory’ in Victoria1<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n

There are multiple examples of terrible companies who were accepted as Approved Solar Retailers, and the dastardly things they got up to before and after joining the CEC’s “Best of The Best”. But, let’s not dwell on the past. \u00a0The battle has been won. The CEC Approved Solar Retailer scheme will soon be as pointless as a 25 year warranty from True Value Solar.<\/p>\n

Or as Brian Blessed would say:<\/p>\n

“as useless as the Pope’s balls!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"brian<\/p>\n

That’s because there is a new code of conduct for solar retailers2<\/a><\/sup> in the wings: The New Energy Tech Code Of Conduct<\/a> (NETCC).<\/p>\n

This new code – assuming it gets final approval from the ACCC – \u00a0is likely to see the Approved Solar Retailer Scheme shrink or even disappear. The ‘Approved Solar Retailer’ badge already means very little: the bar has been lowered so much Warwick Davis could straddle it. The only reason I can see to sign up these days is to access various state schemes that insist on participating companies being Approved Solar Retailers.<\/p>\n

The new code of conduct will become a (hopefully) cheaper, simpler alternative. And if that’s not enough to get retailers ditching the ASR scheme en masse, then another factor could. If – as many people hope – the new code is not administered by the CEC3<\/a><\/sup> that will be a very compelling reason to switch. The CEC has some vocal opponents in the solar installer community these days. The fact that they won’t let paid-up installers vote is just one reason they are angry. Their power over the industry is also verging on monopolistic, so it will be great to see them let go of one part of the solar industry at least.<\/p>\n

A new code of conduct will also reduce consumer confusion. If I had a dollar for every time a consumer contacted SolarQuotes confusing:<\/p>\n

‘CEC Accredited Solar Installers’<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

and<\/p>\n

‘CEC Approved Solar Retailers’4<\/a><\/sup>,<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’d be able to keep Ronald in chocolate for at least a week.<\/p>\n

It should be much easier to realise that:<\/p>\n

‘New Energy Tech Code of Conduct Retailers’<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

are not the same thing as<\/p>\n

‘CEC Accredited Solar Installers’.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A brief history of the New Energy Tech Consumer Code<\/h2>\n

In 2017,<\/strong> the COAG Energy Council5<\/a><\/sup> requested a Code of Conduct be developed for the sale and installation of all distributed energy products such as solar power systems, solar batteries plus energy management devices and software.<\/p>\n

A working group was set up and workshops were run around the country to get input from the industry and the public. I wasted most of a day at one. All my suggestions were ignored.<\/p>\n

A code was written and on 30 April 2019<\/strong>, the Clean Energy Council, the Australian Energy Council, the Smart Energy Council and Energy Consumers Australia submitted<\/a> a draft code of conduct to the ACCC for authorisation.<\/p>\n

The code needs ACCC authorisation because the code effectively sees rival businesses agree on the manner in which they will compete in the market. This causes a number of potential contraventions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).<\/p>\n

After consideration, the ACCC concluded that the public detriment that may be caused by a lessening of consumer choice was likely to be outweighed by the public benefits of the Code.<\/p>\n

The Draft Code was put out for 2 weeks of public submissions on 8 May 2019.<\/strong> Ronald put it a good written submission<\/a> on behalf of SolarQuotes. It appears to have been totally ignored. Ho hum.<\/p>\n

But Ronald is not the only one who cares about the code. The ACCC received another 24 submissions. Here’s a summary of who submitted and what they were concerned about:<\/p>\n