People in Ballarat are finding it increasingly difficult to reduce the cost of their energy bills as well as reducing the amount of energy they use, the Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) reports.
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Cynthia Gebert is the energy and water ombudsman for Victoria and the head of EWOV, the office dedicated to resolving customer complaints about energy and water issues.
She says while it’s a fact the number of cases dealt with by EWOV has dropped slightly in the past year, there are still concerns about high bill costs and connection delays.
In 2017-18, EWOV received seven per cent fewer cases than the previous year from Ballarat City, down from 636 to 594. However:
- High bill cases increased by 20% (46 to 55 cases),
- Collection cases increased by 10% (52 to 57 cases), and
- New connection cases increased significantly (167%) from 9 to 24 cases, whereas
- Disconnection cases reduced by 14% (95 to 82 cases)
The rate of EWOV cases from Ballarat City (5.8 cases per 1,000 people), is about 8% higher than the average for Victoria (5.37 cases per 1,000 people).
“What we’ve seen, over the last year in particular,” say Cynthia Gebert, “is that customers are presenting to us with no scope to increase payments or reduce usage, so these are really difficult circumstances.
“Many of these people are first contacting us when they have had supply disconnected. Our first action is to get them back on supply, because they’re in no position to negotiate at all without supply.”
Ms Gebert says even the threat of disconnection can make people feel vulnerable. She says industry has improved in the manner in which they are responding to disconnection situations and complaints, which has resulted in the decrease in complaints.
For Ballarat in particular, Ms Gebert says the seasonal impact of winter is a major factor.
“We’re coming into the peak high bill season now for Ballarat, whereas other areas we find peaks closer to summer,” she says. “High bill for us is almost masking underlying affordability.”
“The area that still needs further work is those scenarios that customers are presenting with, with really complex circumstances that quite often they have limited control over.
“People on fixed incomes; people in ageing rental buildings who can't just go out and whack solar on their roof; who don't have access to the insulation and all the energy efficiency initiatives.
“What we're seeing is the disproportionate impact on customers suffering relative socio-economic disadvantage and that's the bit that I think still needs more work.”
For Victoria in general, energy and water affordability is a continuing concern.
Across 2017-18, a significant number of customers presented to EWOV with a limited ability to reduce their consumption or increase their capacity to pay. In many cases, it was evident that utility debt was part of a much more complex financial situation they were facing.
EWOV’s overall statistics for 2017-18:
- EWOV received 34,524 cases, up 8% from 2016-17.
- Four years on from a record 84,758 cases, EWOV's case volumes have fallen and remain fairly stable.
- Electricity cases were up 11%, gas cases were up 7% and water cases fell 8%.
- The top customer complaint was high bill, followed by energy disconnection/water restriction, debt collection/credit default listing, provision at a new connection, and provision at an existing connection.