Inside this issue

Message from Clare Petre, Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW
In 2004–2005 EWON dealt with an increase of 16% in the number of cases involving disconnection. In a number of these cases it appeared that mental illness was a contributing factor to the customer being disconnected [view]

Policy mattersEWON's MOU with IPART [view]

Community outreachAnti Poverty Week forum in Broken Hill [view]

Complaint statistics
Statistics 1 July to 31 December 2005
Complaints and issues per NSW region
Disconnection issues
Issues raised by customers

Feature articles

• New water charges for Department of Housing (DOH) customers
  From 5 December 2005, all new and existing tenants will pay a water usage charge, whether or not their property is separately metered [view]
• Consumer tips: meters and blackouts
  What leads to customers receiving ‘catch-up bills’? What can you do to look after your appliances if there's a blackout? [view]
• Outreach to prisoners and corrective services
  A person going into prison often leaves their family struggling to pay the bills... when the prisoner is released, they discover they have unpaid utility bills and are facing disconnection or having difficulty opening an account [view]

In the news

• What is Green Power? [view]
• Energy and Water Savings Fund [view]
• Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) scheme [view]

New resources

• EWON's fact sheets are available online or for download, visit http://www.ewon.com.au/publications/7_5.html
• We have revised our information brochure, to order online visit http://www.ewon.com.au/publications/7_6.html