Message from the Board & Council
Message from Terri Benson
EWON Board Chairperson
This year the energy industry underwent significant change with the sale of the state-owned retailers and, as a consequence, EWON is now seeing increased market activity reflected in complaint numbers. More important than numbers however, is the nature of the marketing complaints.
As the Ombudsman has stated in her report, the onus is on both retailers and distributors to ensure that they communicate effectively with customers and make excellent customer service a priority. Many of the
complaints that were brought to EWON this year could have been dealt with effectively at a contact centre level without the need for Ombudsman involvement.
Unscrupulous marketers and marketing practices have been used to mislead customers, and in some cases, vulnerable customers have been taken advantage of. This reflects negatively on all industry members – it erodes customers’ faith in our service provision and results in lack of trust.
On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank all EWON staff members for their commitment and hard work this year, particularly given the growth of the organisation and the implementation of new systems to support the important work that the organisation undertakes.
Message from Professor Julian Disney AO
EWON Council Chairperson
This has been another year of significant growth for EWON in the complaints-handling workload and the organisation itself. The Council is pleased that the additional resources which it supported for EWON have been integrated effectively into operations. This enabled EWON to continue delivering a high standard of dispute resolution to electricity, gas and water customers and to maintain its strong organisational culture.
The major changes in the utilities sector that followed the sale of the government-owned electricity retailers in March 2011 are beginning to generate new opportunities and challenges for industry and consumers alike. These changes, together with further substantial price increases, may require additional strengthening of EWON’s resources to maintain the quality and timeliness of its workload. The Council will continue to keep a close watch on these issues.
The Council has encouraged EWON’s efforts to ensure that its services are accessible to all consumers across NSW. It has also encouraged close collaboration with industry, government and community agencies to mitigate the impacts of the financial hardship which has been experienced by a substantial number of consumers. Here again, the need for action in this area may become even greater in the coming year.
The Council is greatly concerned that customers of the failed retailer, Jackgreen, still need assistance to sort out credit issues more than 18 months after the company collapsed. EWON has helped many of these customers and drawn attention to changes in legislation and policy which may be necessary to prevent a similarly damaging occurrence.
The Council is taking an active interest in the reviews of EWON’s funding and constitution which are being undertaken by the Board. It thanks the Ombudsman and her staff for rising to the significant challenges of the year and continuing to provide excellent service to the community.
Share this page
