Are Electricity Companies Influencing Watchdog?

Concern That Electricity Companies Are Influencing Consumer Watchdog

The Government is being warned that there are concerns the Electricity & Gas Complaints Commissioner is being intimidated by the industry.

Pat Hanley recently ended a six-year term as a consumer representative on the board of the Electricity and Gas Complaints Commission, a body established by the electricity industry to provide a free, independent service for the resolution of disputes.

He is concerned electricity companies are acting in a manner detrimental to their consumers and has registered his concerns with Consumer Affairs' Minister Judith Tizard and the Minister of Energy David Parker.

"The Electricity and Gas Complaints Commission exists to protect them and to help arbitrate on issues with the industry. However companies have recently tried to influence the decisions of the independent Commission by being critical of her role and refusing to adhere to the requirements of the Consumer Code of Practice, which they have signed up to," Mr Hanley said.

"The clearest evidence of this is the difference between the 50,000 electricity disconnections during 2006/7 and the 170 compaints relating to disconnections. It is impossible to believe that such a small number of these disconnections involved a dispute between the company and the consumer," he said.

When there is a complaint, the Consumer Code of Practice specifies that the company cannot make a disconnection until the dispute is resolved. This creates a disincentive for companies to advise customers of the existence of the complaints scheme.

Mr. Hanley said many electricity companies refused to include information about the scheme on their bills and that two member companies have established an alternative compalaints scheme, undermining the work of the Commission.

"It appears to me that the companies refuse to accept that while they pay for, and are members of the scheme, the Commissioner must act independently and resist being unduly influenced," he said. "These actions are undermining the Commission and compromising its independence, which is detrimental to consumers."

Mr. Hanley has also said: "Despite the recent publicity regarding electricity disconnections there has been no effective action to address this issue except in the case of persons on life support. The measures announced in June are little more than window dressing. Nothing that I have seen gives me any confidence that a tragedy of this nature will not occur again in the future."

ENDS

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