EWOSA News - January 2025

Happy New Year! Welcome to our first newsletter for 2025. We hope you enjoyed the festive season and have a great year ahead. We expect 2025 to be another busy one for EWOSA.

For a quick look back: in 2024, we received 9763 cases. This was 14% higher than in 2023. Billing and higher levels of enquiries were the main drivers, with cost-of-living pressures continuing to be a major concern.

But good news in the December 2024 quarter was that EWOSA received just over 2000 cases. This was down by a third from the September 2024 quarter and 13% lower than for the same period in 2023. The number of cases in the month of December was the lowest since April 2023.

There were fewer cases across all sectors in the December 2024 quarter – electricity, gas and water – as well as across all major issues, including billing, credit and provision.

South Australia is in the middle of a hot and dry summer and that brings higher electricity and water use. Air conditioners are turned on to keep ourselves, our homes and businesses cool. We also use more water to keep our plants healthy and our gardens alive. All of this results in higher bills.

But there are things you can do to reduce your electricity and water use and therefore your bills.

The South Australian Government released the Summer Cooling Guide for 2024-25 late last year. This provides important tips on how to keep your home cool without spending a fortune. Please see the Customer Corner section of the newsletter for more information.

You can also access SA Water’s website for tips on how to reduce water use in your home and garden at https://www.sawater.com.au/my-home/saving-water/in-your-home and https://www.sawater.com.au/my-home/saving-water/be-water-wise

If you are struggling to pay your bills, you can contact your provider to ask for a payment plan or to be placed on their hardship program. You will not be alone in doing this. According to data from the Australian Energy Regulator, in September 2024 there were:

• over 19,700 South Australians on a hardship program with their electricity retailer
• around 8,650 South Australians on a hardship program with their gas retailer.

Please see the Customer Corner section of the newsletter for more information on how to receive a payment plan or access a hardship program.

The Australian Energy Market Commission is considering ways to assist customers on hardship programs and make improvements to energy contracts. These are discussed in the Hot Issues section of the newsletter.

We are here to help if you are unable to resolve a matter with your provider or need some information. Please contact us on 1800 665 565 or via our website if you need assistance.

Sandy Canale

Energy and Water Ombudsman SA

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) is considering a rule change request that would require retailers to provide customers on their hardship program with a credit to their bill, which would compensate them for not being on their retailer’s “deemed better offer”.

A deemed better offer is generally the lowest cost market offer available from the retailer. Energy retailers are required to provide deemed better offer messages to their customers on their bills at least every 100 days. You have probably seen this message on the front page of your bill.

You can find out more about this in Part 4 of the Australian Energy Regulator’s Better Bills Guideline https://www.aer.gov.au/industry/registers/resources/guidelines/better-bills-guideline-version-2/final-decision

EWOSA provided a joint submission on the AEMC’s Consultation Paper with other Energy and Water Ombudsman interstate, asking the AEMC to consider whether other options, such as requiring retailers to obtain explicit informed consent from customers to place them on the deemed better offer, would be more effective in assisting customers on hardship programs.

You can learn more about the process on the AEMC’s website at https://www.aemc.gov.au/rule-changes/assisting-hardship-customers

The AEMC is also considering improvements to energy retail contracts, which would:

• Ensure energy plan benefits last the length of the contract
• Remove unreasonable conditional discounts
• Prevent price increases for a fixed period under market retail contracts
• Remove fees and charges.

EWOSA provided a joint submission on the AEMC’s Consultation Paper with other Energy and Water Ombudsman interstate, generally expressing support for these changes.

You can learn more about these processes on the AEMC’s website at https://www.aemc.gov.au/rule-changes/ensuring-energy-plan-benefits-last-length-contract

The Issue

J received higher than expected bills from their provider. They received a series of amended bills that they did not understand. J was concerned the bills issued by their provider may be inaccurate.

Our Review

We found that J’s provider had issued bills that charged far more than the quantity of electricity use recorded on J’s meter.

The provider, having identified the mistake, cancelled the incorrect bills and issued amended bills that charged correctly the use recorded on the meter, which reduced the charges by $800.

The provider then decided to include a goodwill credit to further compensate J. To do this, they cancelled the previously amended bills and prepared to issue new ones with the credit included.

During this process, J noticed a $600 credit balance on their account and requested a refund. The provider refunded J the $600 without explaining that the rebilling process, which would adjust the account balance, was not yet complete.

When the amended bills with the goodwill credit were issued, the $600 refund resulted in a higher account balance for J because that amount had already been returned.

We reviewed the data recorded on the meter, the rates the provider had charged to J and copies of the amended bills, which confirmed the overcharging had been corrected.

Resolution

The provider acknowledged it’s billing error, failings to explain the amended billing and refunding a credit balance in error, the provider then:

• issued amended bills that corrected the overcharging and reduced the charges by $800
• agreed to provide a $700 gesture of goodwill that further reduced the account balance, up from an original $200 gesture that was offered
• provided additional time to pay the remaining account balance.

The Issue

S received higher than expected bills from their provider. S contacted their provider who was unable to provide an explanation of the bills and S was concerned the bills issued by their provider may be inaccurate.

Our Review

We found that S’s provider had issued bills that charged rates higher than the rates the provider had quoted to S. The provider had charged higher Peak rates for electricity use recorded on the Off-Peak register of the meter that supplied S’s hot water service.

The provider cancelled the incorrect bills and issued amended bills that charged the correct rates for the use recorded on the meter, which reduced the charges by $460.

We reviewed the data recorded on the meter, the rates the provider had provided to J and copies of the amended bills, which confirmed the overcharging had been corrected.

Resolution

The provider apologised for the poor service and experience S received. Due to the billing error and poor service, the provider then:

• issued amended bills that corrected the overcharging and reduced the charges by $460
• agreed to provide a $400 credit as a gesture of goodwill, which further reduced the account balance
• provided additional time to pay the remaining account balance.

If you are having trouble paying your electricity and/or gas bills, you can contact your energy provider through the contact details provided on your bill.

Energy retailers are required to have a Customer Hardship Policy in place. You can contact your electricity and/or gas retailer to be placed on their hardship program and/or receive a payment plan.

A payment plan will allow you to pay smaller amounts off your bills at a frequency more suitable for your budget, such as weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

An energy retailer’s hardship program may also include advice about how to reduce your bills by using energy more efficiently, Centrepay payment options and informing customers of concessions, rebates and financial counselling services.

If you are having trouble paying your water bills, you can contact SA Water:

• on their website https://www.sawater.com.au/my-account/my-bill/help-paying-my-bill
• by email customerassist@sawater.com.au
• or by phone on 08 7424 1650 between 8.30am and 5pm.

SA Water has a Payment Assistance Program and can offer a range of services to help. These include flexible payment plans, connecting you with free financial counselling, accessing concessions, setting up Centrepay arrangements and tips on water efficiency.

The South Australian Government released the Summer Cooling Guide for 2024-25 late last year. This provides important tips on how to keep your home cool without spending a fortune, such as:

• closing curtains and blinds
• closing internal doors if using a refrigerative air conditioner and opening windows slightly if using an evaporative cooler
• setting your air conditioner’s thermostat at a higher temperature (between 24 and 27 degrees)
• servicing your air conditioner and cleaning the filters
• switching off appliances.

You can read the Summer Cooling Guide at https://www.energymining.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/947170/Summer-cooling-guide.pdf

The number of complaints per 10,000 customers for each supplier is calculated by dividing the number of complaints received during the quarter by the total number of customers for each supplier, multiplied by 10,000. Large Suppliers are those with over 100,000 customers, Medium-sized Suppliers have between 10,000 and 100,000 customers, Small Suppliers have between 1,000 and 10,000 customers and Very Small Suppliers have less than 1,000 customers. The total number of complaints is also presented for context.