Householders stuck on a merry-go-round of bill debt, and there is nothing the system can do about it

THE independent umpire overseeing the electricity, gas and water systems has warned householders have been trapped in a cycle of debt that he cannot solve.

POWER and water bills have created a “indebtedness merry-go-round” for some households which cannot be solved by the current watchdog system, the independent industry Ombudsman has warned.

Electricity and Water Ombudsman Sandy Canale said community issues had led to a situation in which the current system of checks and balances cannot cope with price increases like the 20 per cent increase in electricity bills from July 1.

“The broader causal issues that keep some people on an indebtedness merry-go-round are more complex and outside our charter,’’ Mr Canale said in his annual report.

“Hardship has multiple threads of pressure and counterpressure.

“Solutions often go far beyond a single bill or a short-term inconvenience.”

One of the roles of the Ombudsman — funded by electricity gas and water companies — is to make sure bills can be paid by households to avoid them being cut off.

Mr Canale is a former head of AGL, which had the least number of complaints to the Ombudsman for any electricity retail company and was second only to SA Water.

“The Ombudsman’s annual report shows the office received 8828 new cases in 2016-17, a decline of 10 per cent from the previous financial year and well below the peak of 21,130 in 2012-13,’’ he said.

South Australian Council of Social Service senior policy officer Jo De Silva said improving the concession system was a “screaming priority” to help protect large families which needed to consume more to survive.

“This would mean that the more you use, the more concession you get. It will really help large families and households cope with the burden of high prices,’’ she said.

“Prices need to come down and as the ACCC has recognised, network charges need to drop.

“Retailers need to do more to make their hardship programs and payment plans more accessible. There are many working families who are hard hit by record high prices.

“And small businesses can be among the most vulnerable energy consumers. Reform of the customer protection framework is needed so that these vital employers can access support during financial difficulty.”

Sandy Canale.

Jo De Silva

AGL chief customer officer Melissa Reynolds welcomed the result that the company was the least complained about retailer, and said it reflected a focus on helping hardship customers

Uniting Communities utilities expert Mark Henley said for the problems identified by Mr Canale to be solved, prices needed to come down.

He expected this would happen in two years as a result of State Government energy policies this year.

“The bottom line is that if incomes are low and staying low for a growing number of people and prices keep going up at 8-10 time CPI, then problems are just going to keep getting worse,’’ Mr Henley said.

“One the incomes side, more realistic social security payments and better pay rates along with more employment would really help.

“Hard line government policies and practices means that income support isn’t likely to keep pace with electricity bills and other cost of living pressures for a while yet.

“But what can be done in the shorter term is an increase concessions payments for lower income households.

“The other related issue is that access to concessions can take six months or more if a customer switches supplier to a better deal. The concession should go automatically with the concession holder, as it does in other states.”

COMPANY COMPLAINTS

The South Australian companies that customers complain about the most per 10,000 customers

■ Power Direct 160

■ Alinta 144

■ Energy Australia 83

■ Lumo 83

■ Simply Energy 67

■ Origin 52

■ AGL 49

■ SA Power Networks 8

■ SA Water 7

Source: Electricity and Water Ombudsman SA annual report 2016-17