The start of the financial year brought much-needed energy bill relief for Queensland residents and small businesses thanks to grants from the Queensland and Federal Governments. However, there are early indications that this support has not stemmed the flow of complaints to the Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland.

We closed a total of 3,175 cases this quarter for electricity, gas and water. This is a decrease of 11.2% from last quarter, and an increase of 26.7% from same period last year.

Despite a reduction in cases closed, this quarter saw the highest number of calls answered over the past 18 months with a 21.2% increase to the number of calls answered in the previous quarter and a significant 82% increase compared to the same period last year.

Jane Pires, the Energy and Water Ombudsman for Queensland, highlights that this is representative of the sustained increase in demand for our service as Queenslanders struggle with the cost of essential energy services. “We tend to see a decrease in enquiries at this time of year as many customers enjoy relief provided by government assistance, however we have seen the opposite this quarter. More than 75% of our cases related to billing, with increases between 100-300% in customers contacting us for assistance with refunds and concessions or rebates,” says Ms. Pires.

We encourage anyone who is struggling to pay their energy or water bills to contact their provider early to discuss the rebates they are entitled to and what payment options are available.

“With demand increasing and the cost of living continuing to impact our customers our priority is on delivering the most effective dispute resolution possible. We are working with our scheme participants to address ongoing industry issues and are investing in our people and our technology to ensure we can help Queenslanders with their unresolved energy and water issues.”

If a customer has contacted their energy or water provider about an issue and they are dissatisfied with the response they receive, they are encouraged to contact EWOQ for support. EWOQ provides a free, fair, and independent dispute resolution service for unresolved complaints with electricity and gas providers across Queensland and water suppliers in South-East Queensland.

Find out more about rebates and concessions.

Make a complaint online or call 1800 662 837.