This quarter we take you inside EWON to illustrate the work of our two newest teams:
Energy Transition team: since December 2024, this team has been taking complaints from community members dissatisfied with the complaint handling procedure of relevant transmission and renewable energy infrastructure entities operating in, or supporting, NSW’s Renewable Energy Zones.
Extra Help team: this new team sits within our Dispute Resolution team. It was established in November 2024 to manage complaints from customers who are experiencing complex vulnerability or affordability issues and in need of more tailored support.
In December 2024, EWON’s jurisdiction expanded to landholders and community members impacted by transmission entities and renewable energy infrastructure (REI) associated with the planning and development of Renewable Energy Zones (REZs).
This jurisdictional change occurred when EnergyCo and ACEREZ joined EWON as members. EnergyCo is the NSW Government entity that coordinates the development of transmission infrastructure and associated generation in the REZs. ACEREZ is the entity that is designing and constructing transmission in the Central West Orana REZ.
REI complaints are quite different from most energy complaints EWON receives. Firstly, EWON does not have jurisdiction over all entities that are building renewable energy infrastructure as there is currently no government requirement for renewable generation entities to become a member of EWON. And yet, a quarter of REI complaints that EWON has received to date are in relation to large scale solar and wind generation developments. Without having jurisdiction over these developers/generators, EWON’s assistance is limited to the provision of information and referrals. We are working with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) to explore possible options to bring these complaints about generation and storage developments into our jurisdiction.
Secondly, all REI complaints are highly complex, involving a patchwork of different legal and regulatory frameworks, and in many cases involving years of backstory and hundreds of pages of documents. In 2025 there are two major transmission lines in construction in NSW, with another three in the route refinement process. Each project goes through the NSW planning system, which involves extensive documentation including expected impacts and mitigating strategies, and also involves a consultation process. Our REI dispute resolution team needs to review all relevant documents to understand if proper processes have been followed.
A core objective of our REI jurisdiction is to become recognised and accepted as an independent and trusted voice, particularly for communities living in rural and regional NSW where the majority of new energy infrastructure is being built. EWON’s well-established dispute resolution processes and community engagement experience positions us well to be this trusted voice. A common piece of feedback heard by our Energy Transition team on our regional engagement trips is that community members are glad to have an independent body to talk to.
Only months into our new jurisdiction, EWON contributed to the Transmission Planning Review and the Ombudsman spoke at the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry – Impact of Renewable Energy Zones on rural and regional communities and industries in New South Wales. The Ombudsman also took part in ABC’s Big Ideas Citizens Jury in Dubbo to hear from local residents about their concerns with REI developments. Taking part in these public forums allows EWON to contribute an overview of current complaint issues and insights form our community engagement in the REZs.
The top issue landholders complain to EWON about is the location of easements to host transmission infrastructure. In some cases, the landholder considers the line placement is too close to their house. In others, they are concerned the lines will cause potential financial loss to their farming operations.
While most landholders recognise the transmission infrastructure is needed, they frequently believe the route is determined by city-based desktop analysis rather than appropriately considering the needs of the landholder’s farming operations and terrain.
Some landholders are also critical of the legislative framework for how statutory bodies can acquire privately owned land in NSW. EWON has heard from these landholders that in their view the framework is inadequate for deciding the amount of compensation that should be awarded in relation to transmission lines. Unlike houses being acquired for new highways or public projects where residents are required to move, landholders will continue living and working on the land surrounding the acquired easement, with the associated visual, traffic, noise and other impacts continuing for several years. Additionally, there are tax implications for any compensation received - so landholders tell us they feel like government is giving with one hand and taking with the other.
EWON’s expectation is that the entities involved will improve their practices for subsequent transmission projects. While EWON can provide information about navigating the acquisition process, we advise landholders to seek their own legal advice. We also refer landholders to the Centre for Property Acquisition for more detailed information of their rights and responsibilities.
One of the most common pieces of feedback heard by the Energy Transition team is that communities want consultation that is genuine and meaningful rather than what they have experienced – described to us as being a “tick a box” exercise. We’ve heard that community consultation is often last minute, doesn’t involve the whole community and is superficial. Some community members report feeling resentful that they have attended multiple consultation sessions (for which they are not being paid) to provide crucial information to different project staff (who are being paid to listen) about local details, for example about dwellings that exist where the desktop map shows none. But they do not feel listened to, are not provided with responses to issues raised or provision of updated reports or maps.
Many community members, and some councils, are still unaware that individuals can contact EWON for information or to lodge a complaint, so they have felt they had no choice but to accept their situation.
Our community engagement program aims to increase awareness of EWON in regional areas, and we are working with related members to drive an increase in their information provision to landowners and community about EWON’s role.
Landholder wants transmission line location moved
A landholder contacted EWON about wanting to move the proposed placement of a new transmission line on his property. He had already signed the Deed of Easement but tried to negotiate the placement of the line after signing. At the time of lodging the complaint, the landholder had refused the entity access to his property to negotiate a Property Access Plan.
EWON reviewed the issues causing the breakdown in communication and explored ways to re-establish constructive communication. We advised the landholder that since he had already signed a legal agreement for the easement, our investigation was limited. However, we arranged a conciliation conference at his property between himself, his family member and key decision makers from the renewable energy infrastructure entities involved.
In preparing for the conciliation conference, EWON met with all parties to agree on issues to be discussed. On the day, we visited three different locations at the property. Our facilitation ensured both parties were able to share their perspectives and discuss potential options.
Due to EWON’s involvement, the relationship between the landholder and the entities has improved with direct communication re-commencing. Where there were unresolved issues, we ensured both parties agreed on actions to be taken.
The complaint was closed on the basis that there was already a Deed of Easement in place and if the landholder did not provide access, then legal action would commence. We confirmed that the offers made as part of our conciliation process remain open for the landowner and EWON member to negotiate.
Poor community consultation
A landowner contacted EWON about the proposed location of a workers camp to support the construction of transmission infrastructure. She said the transmission entity had not consulted with her despite her being a neighbouring property owner. She considered the proposed location wasn’t appropriate and contradicted the transmission entity’s own policies. She wanted it to provide funding for her to seek legal advice and property valuation. She emailed the entity but they did not respond.
We connected the landholder with the correct person at the entity who set up a meeting with her to resolve the matter. We let her know that as the infrastructure is not on her property, the entity is not obliged to pay her legal fees. We advised if she is unhappy with the outcome after the meeting she can return to EWON.
Sustained high energy prices and broader cost of living pressures have resulted in a significant increase in customers presenting to EWON with long term affordability issues and complex vulnerabilities.
Government and regulators have taken notice, and a number of reforms and initiatives have been proposed to tackle affordability challenges. The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) recently released its final report on its review of payment difficulty protections. The report found that current protections are not fit for purpose.1 One major concern expressed by the AER is that disconnection is being relied on as an engagement tool rather than a tool of last resort. The report identified 13 opportunities to address problems and strengthen protections. The AER is now seeking support from the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council to amend the National Energy Retail Law to introduce:
a single and consistent definition for customers experiencing payment difficulties
higher penalties for retailers failing to uphold the principle that disconnection due to an inability to pay energy bills should be as a last resort.
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has also been consulting on four rule changes. The proposed changes aim to help households access cheaper energy deals; increase support for people experiencing affordability issues; and deliver greater protections for consumers. In its final determination on assisting vulnerable customers and improving confidence in energy plans, one of the four rule changes, the AEMC made a number of changes including:
restricting price increases in market retail contracts to once every 12 months
placing a direct obligation on retailers to ensure if a vulnerable customer is not on the lowest cost deemed better offer, the customer won’t be financially worse off than if they were on the deemed better offer.
In the water sector, the Independent Pricing and Revenue Tribunal (IPART) has recently reviewed pricing for Sydney Water and Hunter Water that will apply for the next five years. As part of those reviews IPART has recommended that the NSW Government improve the effectiveness of existing water rebates to provide greater support to customers most in need of financial support. We strongly support this recommendation and look forward to working with the government on its implementation.
Many customers contact EWON with high energy and water bills. Some of these customers are also experiencing broader personal vulnerabilities such as family and domestic violence, incarceration, unemployment, homelessness, medical conditions, disability, or literacy barriers.
In response, EWON’s Dispute Resolution team has expanded to include a new, purpose-built Extra Help team. This team uses a "one touch" complaint handling model, assigning a single EWON case manager to guide each customer through their entire complaint journey. This approach builds deeper trust and stronger rapport and helps customers better understand their rights and responsibilities.
The new team makes “warm” referrals to and from other agencies, including the National Debt Helpline (through the Financial Rights Legal Centre) and Carers NSW. This two-way referral system offers intentional and targeted support, assists with identifying the root cause of the affordability issue, and provides the customer with easy access to energy bill resolution.
After a successful trial period during FY25, the Extra Help team has now been permanently integrated into our wider Dispute Resolution team. The case studies below highlight some of the Extra Help team’s successes.
Incarcerated customer can't close account
A customer opened an electricity account in her name but only lived at the property for one month before she was incarcerated. She could not close the account from prison, so when new occupants moved in, they continued using her energy account. The customer received a debt collection notice for arrears of over $12,500. She contacted the electricity provider to request the bill be waived, but she was required to provide evidence for why she was not living at the property.
The customer contacted EWON with an advocate, a financial counsellor who specialised in helping incarcerated people. She said she would be released in a few months but could not return to the property because she was impacted by family violence. She had no income while she was incarcerated, was long-term unemployed with limited ability to pay such a large sum back to the retailer, as well as dealing with complex health conditions.
The customer wanted to know whether she was liable for the debt, and if so, whether there was any financial assistance available to help her. She also wanted to know if the retailer should have disconnected the electricity earlier to stop the debt growing. At this point the dispute resolution officer advised the customer her complaint would be dealt with by our Extra Help Team.
The customer’s case manager in the Extra Help Team discussed with the retailer that the customer was not at the property for a large period of time, and advised of the significant vulnerabilities she was facing, highlighting that a debt would likely be lifelong. The retailer agreed to waive the total account balance and closed the account in the customer’s name on the date that she had vacated the property.
Customer spends four years trying to pay water bill
Four years prior to contacting EWON a customer received a high water bill due to a leak at the property she wasn’t aware of. She tried to pay it back with payments of $50 per fortnight, however when the debt was around $6,000, her water provider advised they wished to increase the payments to $120 a fortnight. She advised that she couldn’t afford that increase: she and her husband were on pensions, had high mortgage payments, and were also in arrears in their gas and electricity accounts. The customer then received a notice requesting full payment of the amount, and contacted EWON.
The customer advised EWON that she and her husband could really only afford $30 per fortnight. The complaint was triaged to the Extra Help Team due to the customer’s limited income and inability to pay the high debt.
EWON contacted the water provider and discussed the cause of the high water bill in the first place. The provider advised that it had never received any notification of a leak.
EWON advised the customer that if she could show that the leak was undetected and fixed by an appropriate plumber, she may be eligible for rebates. We also discussed a payment arrangement. The provider advised that the customer’s water usage was $35 per fortnight so this at a minimum needed to be paid to ensure the arrears didn’t increase. The provider also explained that the customer had already been provided with $500 of payment assistance against her account, and some interest had been waived. However, the provider then offered to apply an additional $1,200 of payment assistance to the account, and to waive current interest charges of $87. The provider also advised that the customer could contact them within 10 business days with proof of a leak, and to establish a new debt payment arrangement, on the condition that at a minimum, the customer paid for her ongoing water consumption. The customer accepted the resolution offer from the provider.
1. AER Review of payment difficulty protections in the NECF - Findings report - May 2025
Complaints received in the April to June 2025 quarter reduced slightly by 6.8% compared to January to March 2025.
This continues a downward trend after a large increase in the July to September 2024 quarter due to cost of living pressures. Complaint numbers in April to June 2025 were 17.8% lower than April to June of 2024. We will continue to monitor the trend in complaints and whether we receive another large spike in complaints similar to July to September 2024. Complaints are generally higher after price rises that occur at the start of the financial year and after cooler months when customers receive larger winter bills.
We received 272 water complaints this quarter, a 3.9% decrease compared to the previous quarter, however an increase of 8.8% compared to the April to June 2024 period. We anticipate that water complaints will continue to increase following significant price increases on 1 July 2025 for Hunter Water and 1 October 2025 for Sydney Water.
Complaints received April - June 2024 to April - June 2025
Complaints received by industry, April to June 2025
|
Case subject |
Provider type |
Apr – Jun 25 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
Electricity |
Exempt retailer |
42 |
|
|
Electricity |
Network |
332 |
|
|
Electricity |
Retailer |
4,135 |
|
|
Electricity |
Not allocated |
69 |
|
|
Electricity total |
|
4,578 |
|
|
Gas |
Network |
38 |
|
|
Gas |
Retailer |
784 |
|
|
Gas |
Not allocated |
24 |
|
|
Gas total |
|
846 |
|
|
Water |
Network |
151 |
|
|
Water |
Retailer |
69 |
|
|
Water |
Not allocated |
52 |
|
|
Water total |
|
272 |
|
|
Non-energy/ non-water total |
|
44 |
|
|
Grand total |
5,740 |
||
The issue most raised by customers in April to June 2025 was once again high bills. This is consistent with previous quarters, however, high bills have trended down as an overall percentage of core issues raised. Complaints from customers with difficulty paying a bill/debt have remained consistent.
Issues about rebates or concession errors has increased, showing that customers continuing to look for assistance with cost of living. There has also been a 20.8% increase in customers raising issues with closing their accounts, which may reflect greater movement of customers looking for a better energy deal with different retailers.
Top 10 core issues closed, April to June 2025, including the previous four quarters
|
Primary issue |
Secondary issue > tertiary issues |
Apr – Jun 25 |
Jan – Mar 25 |
Oct – Dec 24 |
Jul – Sep 24 |
Apr – Jun 24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Billing |
High > disputed |
1.592 |
1,911 |
2,349 |
3,407 |
2,440 |
|
Billing |
Estimation > meter access / not read |
214 |
248 |
250 |
356 |
269 |
|
Billing |
Error / payment |
183 |
217 |
199 |
250 |
176 |
|
Billing |
Account closing > error |
174 |
144 |
162 |
181 |
151 |
|
Billing |
Refund or credit > delay / error / form |
150 |
158 |
188 |
200 |
202 |
|
Billing |
Backbill |
146 |
119 |
142 |
199 |
174 |
|
General |
Energy / water |
146 |
130 |
159 |
228 |
209 |
|
Billing |
Information* |
145 |
149 |
159 |
254 |
192 |
|
Billing |
Rebate / concession > error |
139 |
124 |
168 |
288 |
257 |
|
Credit |
Payment difficulties > current / arrears |
129 |
126 |
82 |
139 |
99 |
* Billing > information is a renamed issue from Billing > other
Top five water core issues, April to June 2025
|
Complaint issues |
Number |
|---|---|
|
Billing > high > disputed |
70 |
|
General > water |
50 |
|
Supply > sewer overflow / blockage |
18 |
|
Land > network / transmission assets > maintenance |
12 |
|
Supply > quality |
10 |
This quarter EWON received 211 complaints from embedded network customers, an increase of 17.2% on the previous quarter. Embedded network complaints have been fluctuating for several quarters; we will closely monitor to see if there is spike in the July to September quarter, as occurred in FY 2024.
Embedded network complaints by service provider, April to June 2025
|
Service provider |
Complaints by embedded network customers |
|---|---|
|
Electricity > network > exempt |
12 |
|
Electricity > retail > authorised |
142 |
|
Electricity > retail > exempt |
42 |
|
Electricity > not allocated |
1 |
|
Gas > retail > authorised |
13 |
|
Water > retail > exempt |
1 |
|
Total |
211 |
Top five embedded network core issues closed, April to June 2025
|
Core complaint issues |
Complaints |
|---|---|
|
Billing > high > disputed |
70 |
| Billing > fees & charges > service availability |
10 |
| Billing > rebate / concession > error |
10 |
|
Billing > tariff > rate |
8 |
|
Billing > rebate / concession > information |
7 |
Consumer energy resources (CER) refers to consumer-owned resources like rooftop solar, batteries, and electric vehicle chargers that can generate or store electricity. This quarter, there were 509 complaints from customers using CER, a slight reduction of 5.4% compared to the previous quarter. Complaints from customers using CER made up 11.0% of EWON’s overall complaints about electricity for the quarter. Even though this is a slight reduction, it remains largely consistent with the 12.87% of overall electricity complaints in the same period of 2024.
Complaints received involving behind the meter products by service provider, April to June 2025
|
Service provider |
Complaints opened involving behind the meter products |
|---|---|
|
Electricity > network > authorised |
15 |
|
Electricity > network > exempt |
1 |
|
Electricity > not allocated |
51 |
|
Electricity > retail > authorised |
435 |
|
Electricity > retail > exempt |
7 |
|
Total |
509 |
Top five core issues for closed complaints involving consumer energy resources, April to June 2025
|
Core complaint issues |
Total |
|---|---|
|
Billing > high > disputed |
171 |
|
Billing > tariff > feed-in |
49 |
| Digital meter exchange > fault > solar connection |
30 |
| Consumer Energy Resource > system performance > fault |
18 |
| Digital meter exchange > delay |
17 |
Complaints received Dec 2024 – Jun 2025
| Level | Complaints |
|---|---|
| General enquiry | 1 |
| Complaint enquiries | 33 |
| Refer to Higher Level | 1 |
| Investigations | 5 |
| TOTAL | 40 |
Complaints breakdown by area or project, Dec 2024 – Jun 2025
| Area or project | Complaints |
|---|---|
| Central West Orana | 26 |
| New England | 2 |
| South West | 1 |
| Hunter Central Coast | 2 |
| Hunter Transmission Project | 2 |
| Humelink | 4 |
| Other | 3 |
Complaints by type, Dec 2024 – Jun 2025
| Type | Complaints |
|---|---|
| Transmission | 12 |
| REZ development & planning | 19 |
| Generation* | 9 |
* These complaints are out of jurisdiction, we generally refer them to the Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner
Complaint issue for renewable energy infrastructure complaints, Dec 2024 – Jun 2025
|
Complaint issues |
Total |
|---|---|
|
Land> network / transmission assets > placement |
19 |
|
General > energy (referrals – out of jurisdiction) |
9 |
|
Land > easement |
4 |
|
Land > network / transmission assets > health / safety |
2 |
|
Customer service > failure to consult / inform |
2 |
|
Customer service > failure to respond |
1 |
|
Customer service > incorrect advice / information |
1 |
|
Customer service > phone > call drop out |
1 |
|
Privacy > other |
1 |
|
Total |
40 |
