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Paul Mitchell, Regional Manager of Energy Ombudsman Queensland's (EOQ) Central Queensland office will be visiting Longreach and Barcaldine on 16 March to participate in a community briefing session on the services of EOQ.
Established in 2007, EOQ provides a free, fair, and independent dispute resolution service for consumers who have been unable to resolve a complaint with their energy supplier.
Mr Mitchell said that many people couldn't afford legal assistance to resolve disputes.
"EOQ provides an extremely valuable dispute resolution service for all Queensland energy consumers. Our services are targeted towards the residential and small business consumers in the community who can least afford legal assistance to help resolve a dispute with their energy supplier," he said.
"This is where EOQ comes in—providing free assistance to energy consumers no matter where they live throughout the state.
"Our scheme assisted over 13,400 Queenslanders in 2008-09—2,500 of which were handled by EOQ's Central Queensland office in Rockhampton."
EOQ can assist with various issues such as disputed accounts, disconnections, damages, quality of supply problems, customer service issues and so on.
"The most common complaints we assist people with are related to payment difficulties, fees and charges and unusually high or disputed bills, making up nearly 70 per cent of all complaints we investigated last financial year," Mr Mitchell said.
"For many of these complaints, our staff successfully negotiated payment plans and extensions for overdue accounts to avoid disconnection."
EOQ also commonly assists rural Queenslanders who are experiencing issues with an extension of supply from the electricity network to their property.
"Many people who are building outside the existing electricity network have to pay for an extension of the electricity supply to their property," Mr Mitchell said.
"Although EOQ cannot assist with complaints about the cost of extensions, we can assist with other issues such as delays in the time to extend supply to their property."
Mr Mitchell said that he was very interested to hear about energy issues facing the Longreach and Barcaldine community.
Those who attend the following community briefing sessions will have the opportunity to ask questions about EOQ and the energy industry, as well as discuss local matters and any unresolved disputes they may have.
Barcaldine Regional Council Chambers
71 Ash Street Barcaldine
Tuesday 16 March 2010
9am to 12pm
Longreach Regional Council Chambers
96A Eagle Street Longreach
Tuesday 16 March 2010
2pm to 5pm
"We want to ensure people who require help know where to turn," he said.
"All ombudsman services will generally ask you try to resolve your complaint with the organisation before they will take on the issue. People with energy complaints should contact Ergon Energy first to try to resolve the problem.
"Ergon Energy has good processes in place to assist customers who contact them with an issue that needs resolving.
"However, if you're unhappy with the outcome, contact EOQ on freecall 1800 662 837 or visit www.eoq.com.au.
"There are a number of ways we can assist at no cost to the consumer."
ENDS
First issued to the media on 8 March 2010
EOQ media contact: (07) 3006 2676 or media@eoq.com.au
