Ombudsman’s message
by Clare Petre, Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW

• Jemena joins EWON
• Change in Board members
• Release of EWON's Annual Report
• Complaints and milestones 1998-2008

Jemena joins EWON

Jemena (formerly Alinta) voluntarily joined EWON as a member from 1 July 2008. As Jemena manages the majority of the natural gas distribution network in NSW, we were very pleased to welcome them as a member of EWON.

Change in Board members

Kevin Murray (TransGrid), one of our long-standing Board members, has retired from his position. Kevin was a member of the Electricity Association of New South Wales working group that proposed the establishment of an energy ombudsman scheme in 1996, and he was one of the scheme’s original Board members. Kevin has made a valuable contribution as a Board member and on behalf of EWON, I thank him for his support and commitment over the past ten years.

Release of EWON’s Annual Report

Recently EWON released its Annual Report 2007-2008. This was a special edition in that it marked our 10th Anniversary.

In brief, we finalised 8913 complaints in the last financial year, which represents a 3% increase from the previous year (2006-2007).

In the previous year retail competition related complaints dominated, however decreased marketing activity this year resulted in less complaints of this nature.

Consequently the issue of billing was once again the primary reason for complaints to EWON during 2007-2008.

Of greater concern to EWON however, was the increase in credit related complaints and in particular, the number of customers who came to us for help with a disconnection problem.

There were also complaints from customers who were disconnected in error when an account transfer between retailers did not go smoothly.

We will continue working with retailers and stakeholders to address these issues.

You can download a copy of EWON's Annual Report 2007-2008 or read the online version.

Complaints and milestones 1998-2008