The annual independent assessment found that suppliers are ill-prepared to weather a 'debt tsunami' expected to hit customers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re particularly focused on ensuring our hardship and affordability programs meet the needs of our customers,' a spokeswoman said. 'We intend to continue our participation in initiatives already underway, as well as delivering for our customers through a broad range of programs. AdvertisementĪGL said that withdrawing would allow it to provide direct support to customers. “The time, budget and resources that have been dedicated to support the charter over the past two years will instead be invested directly into supporting our customers, including vulnerable customers through our Power On program,' an Origin spokeswoman said. 'Now is the time they really need to come together, not separate.' Origin and AGL both said they still support the principles of the charter. 'It is a really important initiative and it is disappointing that some companies haven't signed up to it,' Ms Petre said. The independent panel took aim at 'significant companies that have chosen to free-ride' on others' investment in the charter.

EnergyAustralia is now the only major supplier still signed up. The absence of Red and Lumo sits uncomfortably with the federal government's criticism of the 'big three' suppliers – AGL, Origin and EnergyAustralia – for making profits at the expense of retail customers. Neither Snowy nor Alinta ruled out joining the charter when it was being formed in 2018. Conspicuous non-participants include Red Energy and Lumo Energy, retailers owned by Snowy, as well as Alinta Energy, owned by Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook. Advertisementīut the decisions by AGL and Origin, which are founding members, are understood to be partly grounded in the failure of the charter to garner greater support beyond the 18 signatories in January 2019 when it was launched to tackle plunging trust in the sector. 'Now, more than ever, the energy industry needs to work together for the benefit of customers,' it said, urging energy companies to redouble their commitment to the charter's principles rather than walking away from them. 'We are extremely disappointed at the recent withdrawal from the Energy Charter by Origin Energy and AGL,' the annual audit from the panel chaired by Clare Petre said, adding it 'reflects poorly on the leadership role in the industry' of the two. Energy suppliers need to double down on the principles of the Energy Charter, not walk away, an independent assessor said. Their decisions have been met with disappointment by the Charter body and the independent panel that assesses its work. Both AGL Energy and Origin Energy, the country's two largest power and gas retailers, have in the last two months withdrawn from the voluntary charter, saying they will instead direct the funds and time spent on the charter into their own customer initiatives. It is concluded that the impact of functional groups in PAHs cannot be neglected while interpreting the optical band gap measured for nascent soot particles.AGL, Origin quit Energy Charter amid 'free-riding' absenteesĪ two-year-old 'energy charter' that commits electricity and gas suppliers to prioritising customer interests has lost its two biggest members – partly because of the refusal of some major rivals, including federal government owned-Snowy Hydro, to sign up. Further functionalization of PAH by several CHO groups could reduce the HOMO-LUMO gap by as much as 0.7 eV. It was found that single -OH, -COOH and -CHO groups on PAHs can reduce the HOMO-LUMO gap by 0.2, 0.4 and 0.5 eV, respectively.

Results suggest a high sensitivity of the HOMO-LUMO gap on the type and number of functional groups in a PAH molecule. The purpose was to explore the impact of substitution on the electronic structure of PAHs and provide a rational explanation for the optical band gap values measured for nascent soot particles formed in flames. The functional groups considered are ethyl (C 2H 5), phenyl (C 6H 5), hydroxyl (OH), vinyl (C 2H 3), carboxyl (COOH) and formyl (CHO). The HOMO-LUMO gap of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with and without functional group substitutions was computed using the B3LYP methods with the 6-311 + + G(d,p) basis set.

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