APY, Yalata and Oak Valley Community Customers

Community Prepayment Customers

From 1 July 2022, community residents of the APY Lands, Yalata and Oak Valley and associated homelands (Community Prepayment Customers) were required to start paying for electricity, utilising a prepayment metering system. These customers are referred to as Community Prepayment Customers and will use prepayment (meter cards) to pay for electricity.

As with other remote communities throughout Australia, Community Prepayment Customers will pay for the electricity they use through a Prepayment Meter System. A regulation change was undertaken by the Department for Energy and Mining (DEM) to require the Essential Services Commission of South Australia to enable the use of the prepayment metering system and reflect this in Cowell Electric’s Electricity Retail Distribution and Generation Licence.

Details of this regulation change and associated consultation can be found at YourSAY website.

Cowell Electric maintain membership of the Prepayment Meter Consultation Group that was established as a general forum for knowledge sharing and to ensure ongoing discussions around customer protections.  Information on meetings and activities of the group can be found at www.raes.sa.gov.au

MoneyMob Talkabout was contracted by the South Australian Government to provide education and support to the affected community members before and after the commencement of charging for electricity. More information about the Future Sustainability – Pawa Atunmankunytjaku (taking care of power) education program can be found at: www.moneymob.org.au/pawa-atunmankunytjaku or call 1800 849 041

Cowell Electric provides ongoing support for Community Prepayment Customers and has a designated Remote Community Energy Officer to support residents in community.

Below are the resources developed by MoneyMob and DEM for the Pawa Atunmankunytjaku program

Pitjantjatjara Translation – Connection and Installation

Pitjantjatjara Translation – Being A Power Customer

The Story of Our Electricity – MoneyMob

Ways To Pay For Power

Help Paying For Power In APY Lands

How To Prepay For Electricity

Understanding Your Meter

All meters within the RAES scheme, including the communities in the APY Lands, Yalata, and Oak Valley, have been upgraded to smart meters. Smart meters give us a lot more information about how much electricity you are using and also tell Cowell Electric when there is a problem with the power supply.

MoneyMob have been asked by the South Australian Government to teach all community members about how to use these new meters. They are visiting each household in every community, and information has been created to help everyone understand.

You can visit the Pawa Atunmankunytjaku website to find out more about the education program.

Here is some information about how to use smart meters.

Understanding Your Smart Meter

There is also information about how to pay for electricity and how to use your meter card.

Pitjantjatjara Translation – Emergency and Friendly Credit

Paying for Power – Getting Started

Paying for Power at the Shop – Video

PAYG Quick Reference Guide

Customer Contracts and Forms 

Cowell Electric needs to supply you with information about what we legally need to do when selling you electricity. This information is set out in the Community Pre-pay Standard Terms and Conditions.

A Written Disclosure Statement is a summary of the Connection and Supply Contract. A simplified version in Pitjantjatjara and English can be found in below:
Community Prepayment Written Disclosure Statement.

Community Prepayment Written Disclosure Statement (Pitjantjatjara)

Click here to listen to Pitjantjatjara translation.

It is important that you understand this information and what is required of you as a customer. MoneyMob Talkabout will be visiting each household to make sure everyone has this information before they need to start paying for power.

If you have any questions about payment, contact Cowell Electric on 1800 485 788.

Pitjantjatjara Translation – Leaving your house and ending the contract

Payment Options, Tariffs, and Charges

Community Prepayment Customers utilising the Prepayment Meter Card system have the following payment options:
• Local community store
• Online Payment Portal to add credit to your meter online
• Centrelink Direct Payment
• Credit/Debit Card payment over the phone

To set up a Centrelink Direct Payment or Credit/Debit payment call Cowell Electric 1800 485 788

Electricity Tariffs for RAES Cowell Electric customers are reviewed by the Minister for Energy and Mining on an annual basis.

If you are experiencing difficulty putting credit on your meter, or are having financial difficulty, please contact Cowell Electric as soon as possible on 1800 485 788. There are a number of opportunities for assistance.

Pitjantjatjara Translation – Help Paying for Power

Pitjantjatjara Translation – Difficulty Paying

Pitjantjatjara Translation – Payment Options

Concessions and Flexible Payment Options

Government concessions
If you hold an eligible card, receive an eligible Centrelink payment, or meet low-income provisions, you may be eligible for Government Concessions. To find out if you meet the criteria or find out more about the Energy Concession or the Cost of Living Concession go to the Concessions SA website.

As part of a special agreement with Concessions SA, all Community Prepayment Customers will not be required to go through an application process for the Energy Concession, this will be applied directly to the meter.

Customers experiencing financial hardship
If at any time you are having difficulties paying for your electricity, contact Cowell Electric immediately to avoid disconnection.
Flexible payment options are available to customers who are experiencing financial hardship.

The Energy Advisory Service provides free independent information on saving energy in your home, calculating appliance running costs and other general information. Visit their website for more information.

Prepayment Customer Monitoring
Current information on independent financial and other relevant counselling services will be provided to customers identified as having payment difficulties and we will contact those who meet the criteria of potentially being in hardship.

Special arrangements have been made for New to Payment (Community Prepayment) customers. Further information can be found in the Customer Monitoring and Reporting Policy.

Pitjantjatjara Translation – State Government Energy Concessions

Life Support

Please contact Cowell Electric on 1800 485 788 if you require life support equipment for yourself or a person residing at your home. You can find more detail of this in the Cowell Electric Life Support Policy.

Life Support customers should have a plan of action ready for planned outages and unplanned outages, which can be common in off-grid systems. Life Support and preparing for electrical supply interruptions has been developed to ensure you are prepared for such occasions.

Power and Keeping Healthy has been developed to assist in registering as a Life Support Customer.

Download the Life Support Registration form for registering your life support equipment or contact Cowell Electric to obtain one.

Pitjantjatjara Translation – Life Support

Dispute Resolution

Cowell Electric is the electricity retailer and distributer contracted by RAES to deliver safe, reliable electricity supply. The Electricity Retail Complaints Handling procedure sets out the principles that Cowell Electric has adopted for the management of written feedback, suggestions, or complaints. Any complaints regarding the generation or retail services of Cowell Electric should be directed to Cowell Electric in the first instance.

If the complaint is unable to be resolved by Cowell Electric directly the South Australian Energy and Water Ombudsman can be contacted on: Free Call 1800 665 565 www.ewosa.com.au

Pitjantjatjara Translation – Dispute Resolution