By Tom Wark
Leaving an elderly woman in the dark for nearly four months has triggered $140,000 in fines for a major retailer.
EnergyAustralia disconnected the woman’s service for 114 days between July and October 2023 after an unrelated customer accidentally set up an electricity account at her address.
The Australian Energy Regulator alleges the company transferred the woman to themselves without obtaining her consent and sent her bills and disconnection warnings that were not addressed to her.
Despite sending the notices back unopened and trying to call EnergyAustralia to fix the problem, she was disconnected and forced to live by torchlight through the year’s coldest months.
She resorted to eating out every night and charging her phone in public places while disconnected, the Australian Energy Regulator deputy chair said.
“It’s especially distressing that this happened to an elderly customer and they did not have electricity for an extended period,” Justin Oliver said.
“This example is a critical reminder of retailers’ responsibility to … obtain explicit informed consent from customers and to ensure a customer is only disconnected when permitted by the Retail Rules.”
By agreeing to pay the fines, EnergyAustralia has avoided legal proceedings being brought by the regulator.
EnergyAustralia self-reported the incident to the NSW Energy and Water Ombudsman and ultimately reimbursed the customer, who was based in that state.
The company’s chief customer officer said EnergyAustralia took full responsibility for what occurred.
“Through no fault of their own, electricity was disconnected from this person’s house after someone else incorrectly set up an account at the address,” Kate Gibson said.
“No process or system should ever leave someone in that situation, this was unacceptable and we deeply regret this outcome.”
Complaints about the supply of energy and water to homes and businesses have spiked significantly in NSW in the last year.
The ombudsman’s annual report for 2024/25 says complaints rose 70 per cent to more than 400, and there was a 64-per-cent hike in complaints about electricity distributors.
Nearly 20,000 billing complaints were also made to the ombudsman in that time.