Synergy power bill error to see thousands of West Australians cop a ‘double bill’ hit

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Synergy power bill error to see thousands of West Australians cop a ‘double bill’ hit

Thousands of West Australians are due to get slugged two power bills at once after an error at Synergy.

Under questioning from Opposition Leader Shane Love in Parliament on Thursday, Premier Roger Cook admitted more than 15,500 Synergy customers had not been direct debited for their May and June power bills, leaving them facing a double hit.

The bills are set to arrive at the end of August after a technological error saw automatic payments to Synergy across more than a month fail.

Mr Cook said a technical problem meant that, when Synergy attempted to take payment for bills between May 29 and July 10, the agency ******* to withdraw the money from customers’ bank accounts.

But customers incorrectly had a credit for the amount applied to their account, making it appear as though their bill had been paid.

In an email to affected customers, Synergy said overdue bills could be paid online, or, if not action is taken before August 26, the amount will be debited automatically with their next payment.

Synergy will also reverse credit card and late fees associated with the error. Customers who pay their bills in instalments will see increases in their periodic payments.

While customers facing hardship conditions have had the debts written off, thousands of others will face a double hit for two power bills later this month, which is set to eat away at the combined $350 State and Federal electricity bill credits set to be applied to customers’ next bills.

“Synergy have written off any debt related to hardship customers so they will effectively receive a bonus credit on their bill as they will not be charged,” Mr Cook told Question Time on Thursday.

“Synergy has written to all impacted customers in recent days to advise them on the error and apologize for any inconvenience.”

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