Customer service performance of electricity distribution ...€¦ · Customer service performance of electricity distribution businesses IPART 5 Figure 3.1 Number of supply connections

Customer service performance of electricity distribution businesses 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2013

Electricity — Information Paper December 2013

ii IPART Customer service performance of electricity distribution businesses

© Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of New South Wales 2013

This work is copyright. The Copyright Act 1968 permits fair dealing for study, research, news reporting, criticism and review. Selected passages, tables or diagrams may be reproduced for such purposes provided acknowledgement of the source is included.

The Tribunal members for this review are:

Dr Peter J Boxall AO, Chairman

Mr Simon Draper, Part Time Member

Dr Paul Paterson, Part Time Member

Inquiries regarding this document should be directed to a staff member:

Fiona Towers (02) 9290 8420

Nicole Ikenberg (02) 9113 7732

Edward Jenkins (02) 9113 7774

Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of New South Wales PO Box Q290, QVB Post Office NSW 1230 Level 8, 1 Market Street, Sydney NSW 2000

T (02) 9290 8400 F (02) 9290 2061

www.ipart.nsw.gov.au

Customer service performance of electricity distribution businesses IPART iii

Contents

1 Executive Summary 1

1.1 Overview of IPART’s findings for 2012/13 2

1.2 What does the rest of this paper cover? 3

2 Structure of the NSW electricity market 3

3 Timely provision of connection services 4

4 Planned interruptions to supply 6

4.1 Timely notice of planned interruptions to supply 6

4.2 Insufficient notice given for planned interruptions to supply 7

4.3 Planned interruptions to supply that lasted longer than advised 7

4.4 Value of payments made to customers as compensation 8

5 Repair of faulty street lights 9

5.1 Street light faults reported to distributors 10

5.2 Average working days to repair reported street light faults 10

5.3 Reported street light faults repaired after the agreed date 12

5.4 Value of payments made to customers as compensation 12

6 Call centre responsiveness 13

6.1 Calls that were abandoned or dropped out before being answered by a human operator 13

6.2 Calls answered by a human operator within 30 seconds 14

7 Customer complaints 15

Appendices 17

A Electricity distributor customer service performance data, 2008/09 to 2012/13 19

B Notes and Definitions 23

iv IPART Customer service performance of electricity distribution businesses

Customer service performance of electricity distribution businesses IPART 1

1 Executive Summary

Each year the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of NSW (IPART) publishes information papers reporting on the performance of the energy distribution and retail businesses that serve small retail customers in NSW. Our aim is to ensure that all stakeholders, including customers, have ready access to this information.

This paper focuses on Distribution Network Service Providers (DNSP) customer service performance over the past reporting year, 2012/13.

Under the National Energy Customer Framework (NECF) which commenced in NSW on 1 July 2013, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) is responsible for reporting on distributors’ performance against distributor service standards.1 Distributor service standards include customer service standards that applied in NSW before NECF. The AER also now has responsibility for matters associated with customer connection contracts.

We expect that the AER will for 2013/14 onwards report customer service performance. We consider it important to ensure that key information continues to be publicly available. Therefore, we will liaise with the AER to ensure public reporting continues.

Under the regulatory regime in effect during 2012/13, the 3 DNSPs in NSW are required to report annually on their performance against a set of customer service indicators.2 The indicators reflect the guaranteed customer service standards (GCSS),3 covering:

timely provision of connection services

notice of planned interruptions to supply

repair of faulty street lights

call centre responsiveness.

We monitor and assess the distributors’ performance against these customer service indicators,4 including analysing the data each year, and comparing it to previous years. This analysis provides a broad indication of the standard of customer service the distributors are providing.

1 National Energy Retail Law (NSW), sections 284 and 285(d). 2 Ministerially imposed licence condition 9. 3 Electricity Supply (General) Regulation 2001, clause 40 and Schedule 3, Part 2. Any reference to

legislation is to legislation that was in force immediately prior to 1 July 2013. 4 The NSW distributors are also required to report against design, reliability and technical

performance indicators. Their performance against these indicators is monitored by NSW Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services (DTIRIS).

2 IPART Customer service performance of electricity distribution businesses

1.1 Overview of IPART’s findings for 2012/13

During 2012/13, the NSW electricity distribution businesses continued to provide a good standard of customer service, as measured by the GCSS.

1.1.1 Timely provision of connection services

In 2012/13, 99.99% of customer connections were completed by distributors by the agreed date. This is the same as distributor performance in 2011/12.

1.1.2 Timely notice of planned interruptions to supply

The number of planned interruptions to customers’ electricity supply decreased by 5% in 2012/13. This is a continuation of the trend in decreased levels of planned interruption of supply. Most of these planned interruptions were due to capital works to maintain the safety and security of the network.

The proportion of planned interruptions where customers were given inadequate advance notice was 3%. The proportion that lasted longer than customers were advised increased to 8% during 2012/13.

1.1.3 Repair of faulty street lights

The number of faulty street lights not repaired by the date agreed with the customer decreased significantly to 341 in 2012/13 from 642 in 2011/12. 99% of reported street light faults were repaired by the agreed date during 2012/13. This is consistent with 2011/12. The average time taken to repair a reported street light fault was 4 days during 2012/13.

1.1.4 Call centre responsiveness

The distributors’ performance against the indicators of call centre responsiveness continued to decline in 2012/13, while the number of calls to their call centres increased by 8%.

22% of calls were abandoned or dropped out before they were answered by an operator during 2012/13. This is an increase from 21% during 2011/12. This call abandonment rate is not much higher than the 5-year average of 20%.

The overall percentage of calls answered by a human operator within 30 seconds decreased to 50% in 2012/13, compared to 56% in 2011/12.

We encourage distributors to review their systems to improve their call centre responsiveness.


1.1.5 Customer complaints

The total number of customer complaints about network matters increased to 10,246 in 2012/13 from 8,026 in 2011/12. This represents a small proportion of the small retail customer electricity distribution market (0.3 complaints per 100 customers).

1.2 What does the rest of this paper cover?

The rest of this paper discusses our findings and analysis on the quality of the customer service provided by electricity distributors in 2012/13 in more detail:

section 2 outlines the structure of the NSW electricity market

section 3 discusses the provision of connection services

section 4 focuses on the planned interruption to supply

section 5 discusses repair of faulty street lights

section 6 focuses on call centre responsiveness

section 7 discusses customer complaints.

It is important to note the information presented in the figures and tables of this report is data that has been reported to IPART by the electricity distributors in NSW, which has been subject to IPART analysis.

2 Structure of the NSW electricity market

Three DNSPs distribute electricity to NSW electricity customers. Each DNSP distributes electricity to a different area of NSW:5

Ausgrid: Sydney, Central Coast and Hunter regions of NSW.6

Endeavour Energy: Sydney’s Greater West, the Southern Highlands and the Illawarra.7

Essential Energy: electricity to 95% of NSW. The network also extends into authorised supply areas of Queensland and Victoria.8

Accordingly, the DNSPs provide monopoly services within their distribution areas. Table 2.1 shows their customer numbers during 2012/13.

5 A map of the NSW DNSP’s distribution districts can be found on the Department of Trade,

Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services website http://www.energy.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/312637/NSW_DNSP_Distribution-Districts-map.pdf

6 Ausgrid, Electricity Network Performance Report, 2011/12, p 2. 7 Endeavour Energy, Electricity Network Performance Report NSW, 2011/12, p 7. 8 Essential Energy, Network Management Plan Chapter 1 – Network Safety and Reliability, 2013, p 8.


Table 2.1 Number of customers in NSW as at 30 June 2013 – by distributor

Residential customers Non-residential customers

Ausgrid 1,454,231 175,797 % market share 49% 51% Endeavour Energy 823,721 79,746 % market share 28% 23% Essential Energy 716,429 91,731 % market share 24% 26% Industry Total 2,994,381 347,274

As of 1 July 2012, the NSW Government has reformed the electricity distribution network in NSW.9 The NSW Government merged the 3 distribution networks into a single corporate structure to own and operate the electricity distribution network. However, currently the 3 businesses – Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy – continue to provide operational services for the single corporation under the current brands.

3 Timely provision of connection services

NSW electricity distributors’ customer connection contracts must provide that if the distributor fails to provide a connection service under the contract on or before the date agreed, the distributor must pay to the customer, by way of compensation for the delay, not less than $60 for each day that elapses between the agreed date and the date by the service is actually provided (with a maximum payment of $300 in relation to any one service).10

In 2012/13 NSW distributors reported that out of the total 287,772 connections by NSW distributors, only 5 were not completed by the agreed date. This represents less than 0.01% of the total supply connections provided during the year.

There are no specific timeframes within which distributors must provide supply connections to their customers.11 This gives this statistic limited value as a performance indicator.

9 Minister for Resources and Energy, Media Release - Electricity Network Merger to Provide Benefits

to NSW Households, 18 March 2012. http://www.energy.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/428590/Electricity-network-merger-to-provide-benefits-to-nsw-households.pdf

10 Electricity Supply (General) Regulation 2001, GCSS pursuant to clause 40 and Schedule 3, Part 2, clause 9.

11 An audit of electricity distributors operating statistics conducted in 2008/09 found that NSW distributors re-negotiated supply connection dates with customers for practical reasons such as site considerations and construction issues. The NSW DNSPs generally report this statistic based on the most recent negotiated date.


Figure 3.1 Number of supply connections provided after the agreed date – by distributor

During 2012/13, $1,260 was paid in compensation to consumers as a result of late connections. This is a 5% decrease from the $1,320 paid in 2011/12. This is consistent with the downward trend in the number of supply connections not completed by the agreed date and is illustrated in Figure 3.2

Figure 3.2 Value of compensation paid for not providing connections by the agreed date – by distributor


4 Planned interruptions to supply

4.1 Timely notice of planned interruptions to supply

NSW electricity distributors’ customer connection contracts must provide that customers are given at least 2 business days’ notice of any planned interruptions to supply and must specify how long the interruption will last. The contract must provide that if they fail to give the required notice or the interruption lasted longer than indicated, they must pay the affected customers, by way of compensation for the interruption to supply, not less than $20 per event.12

Figure 4.1 shows that there was a 5% decrease in the number of planned interruptions to supply during 2012/13. Essential Energy continued to be responsible for the largest number of planned interruptions.

Essential Energy’s network is largely overhead and radial, while Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy’s networks are a mix of overhead and underground meshed network in mostly metropolitan areas. Due to these differences in geography and network designs, Essential Energy has less flexibility relative to other network operators to re-route supply and avoid planned interruption to supply when conducting network upgrades. It is for this reason that Essential Energy is responsible for the largest number of planned interruptions in supply.

Figure 4.1 Number of planned interruptions to supply – by distributor

12 Electricity Supply (General) Regulation 2001, Guaranteed customer service standard pursuant to

clause 40 and Schedule 3, Part 2, clause 10.


4.2 Insufficient notice given for planned interruptions to supply

Figure 4.2 charts the percentage of planned interruptions to supply where insufficient notice was provided. 97% of customers received sufficient notice about the planned interruptions during 2012/13, which is the same as in 2011/12.

Figure 4.2 Percentage of planned interruptions to supply where insufficient notice was given – by distributor

4.3 Planned interruptions to supply that lasted longer than advised

During 2012/13 there was a 440% increase in the number of planned interruptions to supply that lasted longer than advised. This increase is largely driven by Essential Energy.

Essential Energy reported that 2012/13 is the first year that these statistics have been taken from its new real time distribution management system. Within this, new system operations are recorded more accurately and in real time. Previously the statistics provided by Essential Energy were recorded by way of customer contact. Essential Energy has informed IPART that the sharp increase in the number of planned interruptions to supply that lasted longer than advised is due to its implementation of this new system.


Figure 4.3 shows the percentage of planned interruptions to supply that lasted longer than advised.

Figure 4.3 Percentage of planned interruptions to supply that lasted longer than advised – by distributor

4.4 Value of payments made to customers as compensation

In 2012/13, there was a 14% decrease in the value of compensation paid when compared to 2011/12. Essential Energy had the largest value of compensation payments paid out which is consistent with its level of insufficient notices and over runs.


Figure 4.4 illustrates the value of payments made to customers as compensation for insufficient notice or interrupted supply lasting longer than advised.

Figure 4.4 Value of compensation paid for planned interruptions where insufficient notice was provided or interruptions lasted longer than advised – by distributor

5 Repair of faulty street lights

This CGSS applies to street lighting that is owned by the DNSP or that the DNSP is under a legally enforceable obligation to maintain, but does not apply to street lighting to which the DNSP merely supplies electricity or connection services.

NSW electricity distributors’ customer connection contracts must provide that if faulty street lights are not repaired by the date agreed with the customer, the distributor must pay to the customer, by way of compensation for the loss of illumination not less than $15 per event.13




5.1 Street light faults reported to distributors

During 2012/13, there was a 1% increase in the number of reported street light faults. This is in contrast to a 10% decrease during 2011/12. Figure 5.1 shows the numbers of reported faulty street lights over a 5-year period.

Figure 5.1 Number of street light faults reported – by distributor

5.2 Average working days to repair reported street light faults

The NSW Public Lighting Code (the Code) provides that as a minimum standard of service, distributors should repair street light faults within an average of 8 working days of it being reported. In 2012/13, all 3 NSW distributors met this minimum standard for repairing faulty street lights as required under the Code.

Figure 5.2 compares the average number of working days NSW distributors took to repair reported faulty street lights. In 2012/13, the average number of days taken to repair street light faults was 4.0 days. This is lower than the 5-year industry average of 4.7 days.

During 2012/13 Ausgrid reported a 21% increase in the level of reported street light faults. It also reported that it completed a number of key labour intensive projects. Ausgrid reported that these events contributed to the increase in its average number of working days taken to repair reported street light faults during 2012/13.


Figure 5.2 Average number of working days taken to repair reported street light faults – by distributor


5.3 Reported street light faults repaired after the agreed date

Figure 5.3 shows the percentage of reported street light faults that were not repaired by the agreed date. Across the industry more than 99% of street light faults were repaired by the agreed date.

Figure 5.3 Percentage of faulty street light repairs not completed by the agreed date – by distributor

Note 1: Prior to 2009/10, Essential Energy had under-reported the number of times it failed to repair the street light by the required time; this reporting error was identified in an audit of its operating statistics. Essential Energy correctly reported this indicator for the first time in 2009/10, which gave rise to a spike in this indicator for that year.

Note 2: Essential Energy reported 33.8% of reported faulty street light repairs were completed after the agreed date in 2009/10. The scale for Figure 5.3 has been capped at 10% to ensure the other retailers data is presented in a meaningful manner.

5.4 Value of payments made to customers as compensation

During 2012/13, $3,870 was paid to consumers by NSW distributors for delays in faulty street light repairs.14 This is a 41% increase from the $2,745 paid in 2011/12. This increase is consistent with the increase in the average number of working days taken to repair reported street light faults.

14 Schedule 3, Part 2, clause 12(3) of the Electricity Supply (General) Regulation 2001 provides that to

qualify to receive compensation under this GCSS, it must be shown that the customer’s premises abut the part of the street that (but for the fault) would ordinarily be illuminated by the street lighting.


Figure 5.4 shows the amount of compensation paid during 2012/13 by distributor.

Figure 5.4 Value of compensation paid for failing to complete street light fault repairs by the agreed date – by distributor

6 Call centre responsiveness

Electricity distributors’ customer connection contracts must provide that the distributor will operate a telephone service available to customers during business hours for not more than the price of a local telephone call.15

The telephone service must also be capable of receiving notice of, and giving information concerning, faults and difficulties in the distributor’s network. An automated answering service satisfies this requirement only if it makes provision for the transfer of calls to a human operator.

6.1 Calls that were abandoned or dropped out before being answered by a human operator

During 2012/13, 22% of the calls to distributors’ call centres were abandoned or dropped out before being answered by a human operator during 2012/13. This is higher than the 5-year average of 20%.




Essential Energy advised that this high abandonment rate was primarily due to a reporting limitation within its Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) system; therefore, Essential Energy’s higher call abandonment rate may not accurately reflect its performance.

Essential Energy’s IVR system plays recorded messages to advise customers of network interruptions and the areas affected when it becomes aware of any outages or supply interruptions. However, its IVR system is unable to distinguish between customers who have their inquiries answered by the recorded information and customers whose inquiries were not addressed and subsequently abandon the call due to lengthy waiting periods. This has been an ongoing issue for a number of years and we would encourage Essential Energy to review its IVR system to remedy this issue.

We encourage distributors to review their systems to reduce the number of abandoned calls and ensure the decline in their performance against this indicator does not continue.

Figure 6.1 shows the percentage of calls abandoned or dropped out before being answered by a human operator.

Figure 6.1 Percentage of calls that were abandoned or dropped out before being answered by a human operator – by distributor

6.2 Calls answered by a human operator within 30 seconds

In 2012/13, only 50% of calls were answered by a human operator within 30 seconds. Prior to 2011/12, this rate was above 70%. The only distributor to report an increase in the percentage of calls answered by a human operator within 30 seconds was Endeavour Energy.


Ausgrid reported that it has two automated power outage management systems that provide recorded messages about unknown outages to customers. It advised IPART that this automated system has reduced the number of calls from customers that progress to a human operator. This adversely affects the percentage of calls answered by a human operator within 30 seconds. Therefore, Ausgrid’s lower percentage of calls answered by a human operator within 30 seconds during 2011/12 and 2012/13 might not accurately reflect its performance in this area.

Figure 6.2 shows the percentage of calls that were answered by a human operator within 30 seconds in NSW electricity distributors’ call centres. Where an automated answering system is used, data is collected on the number of calls answered within 30 seconds of the system directing a caller to an operator or where a caller indicates a preference to be connected to an operator.

Figure 6.2 Percentage of calls answered by a human operator within 30 seconds – by distributor

7 Customer complaints

This performance measure is defined as the number of small retail customers who have contacted their distributor to express dissatisfaction with some aspect of the service and seek a resolution. The indicator includes customer complaints to the distributor about network service matters and its failure to observe its procedures.


During 2012/13, there was a 28% increase in the number of complaints received when compared to 2011/12. However, as a percentage of NSW small retail customer base the number of complaints per 100 customers remained low at 0.3 in 2012/13.

Figure 7.1 shows the total number of customer complaints lodged in relation to electricity network service matters in NSW.

Figure 7.1 Customer complaints as a percentage of distributors total small retail residential customers – by distributor

This finding is not consistent with EWON complaints data for 2012/13. Complaints received by EWON attributable to distributors decreased by 2% during 2012/13. However, it may therefore indicate that while there has been an increase in small retail customer complaints to the distributors, a greater proportion of these complaints have been resolved without referral to EWON.

0.0%

0.1%

0.2%

0.3%

0.4%

0.5%

0.6%

0.7%

Ausgrid Endeavour Energy Essential Energy

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13


Appendices



A Electricity distributor customer service performance data, 2008/09 to 2012/13

Table A.1 Number of connections provided after the agreed date

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Ausgrid - 2 7 3 1

Endeavour Energy 4 - 1 - -

Essential Energy 22 18 11 5 4

Industry Total 26 20 19 8 5

Table A.2 Value of compensation paid for late connections

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Ausgrid - $360 $1,260 $540 $60

Endeavour Energy $240 - $60 - -

Essential Energy $2,880 $2,400 $1,560 $780 $1,200

Industry Total $3,120 $2,760 $2,880 $1,320 $1,260

Table A.3 Number of planned interruptions to supply

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Ausgrid 3,443 3,133 3,226 3,859 3,696

Endeavour Energy 4,082 4,187 4,526 4,132 4,637

Essential Energy 12,030 16,321 19,692 18,413 16,674

Industry Total 19,555 23,641 27,444 26,404 25,007

Table A.4 Percentage of planned interruptions to supply where insufficient notice was given

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Ausgrid 1.7% 2.7% 3.3% 3.4% 3.7%

Endeavour Energy 1.0% 1.0% 1.2% 1.7% 2.4%

Essential Energy 4.4% 2.9% 2.6% 2.7% 3.3%

Industry Total 3.2% 2.5% 2.4% 2.7% 3.2%

Table A.5 Percentage of planned interruptions to supply that lasted longer than advised

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Ausgrid 0.1% 0.3% 0.5% 0.5% 0.7%



Industry Total 1.5% 1.8% 1.4% 1.4% 8.2%


Table A.6 Value of compensation paid where insufficient notice was given or planned interruptions to supply lasted longer than advised

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Ausgrid $1,270 $1,880 $2,500 $3,020 $5,460

Endeavour Energy $1,100 $1,280 $2,000 $2,520 $4,040

Essential Energy $57,020 $31,180 $47,960 $48,940 $37,100

Industry Total $59,390 $34,340 $52,460 $54,480 $46,600

Table A.7 Number of reported street light faults

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Ausgrid 17,129 17,609 15,251 19,613 23,688

Endeavour Energy 15,901 15,604 14,497 14,249 13,617

Essential Energy 11,789 11,501 27,210 17,433 14,700

Industry Total 44,819 44,714 56,958 51,295 52,005

Table A.8 Average number of working days to repair street light faults

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Ausgrid 3 2 2 2 6

Endeavour Energy 4 3 4 4 4

Essential Energy 19 10 4 1 2

Industry Average 9 15 10 2 4

Table A.9 Value of compensation paid for not completing street light faults by agreed date

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Ausgrid $495 $105 $165 $135 $1,125

Endeavour Energy $1,590 $1,275 $1,515 $2,265 $2,040

Essential Energy $2,025 $1,515 $1,185 $345 $705

Industry Total $4,110 $2,895 $2,865 $2,745 $3,870

Table A.10 Percentage of calls abandoned or dropped out

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Ausgrid 11.1% 10.9% 11.3% 15.8% 18.3%



Industry Total 22.4% 17.6% 19.3% 20.8% 22.3%


Table A.11 Percentage of calls answered by a human operator within 30 seconds

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Ausgrid 79.7% 82.6% 81.8% 46.7% 40.6%



Industry Total 66.8% 73.9% 71.0% 56.5% 50.4%

Table A.12 Percentage of complaints by small retail customers about network matters

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Ausgrid 0.08% 0.06% 0.10% 0.08% 0.11%



Industry Total 0.21% 0.20% 0.27% 0.24% 0.31%


Table A.13 Total numbers for all performance indicators

Performance indicators 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13

Number of customers as at 30 June

3,214,477 3,237,132 3,274,315 3,324,066 3,362,722

Number of residential small retail customers

2,857,092 2,829,152 2,931,392 2,963,373 2,994,381

Number of non-residential small retail customers

358,213 422,751 348,778 339,831 347,274

Total small retail customers 3,215,305 3,251,903 3,280,170 3,383,204 3,341,655

Number of calls made to this service

1,088,713 910,131 1,028,631 1,073,305 1,157,830

Number of calls abandoned or dropped out

243,530 160,483 198,675 222,991 258,185

Number of calls answered within 30 seconds

727,489 672,333 730,360 605,896 583,138

Number of connections provided by the DNSP

233,238 251,100 257,895 238,292 287,772

Number of connections provided after the agreed date

26 20 19 8 5

Total value of compensation paid for connections after agreed date ($)

$3,120 $2,760 $2,880 $1,320 $1,260

Number of planned interruptions to supply

19,555 23,641 27,444 26,404 25,007

Number of planned interruptions where insufficient notice was given

630 599 666 704 794

Number of planned interruptions that lasted longer than advised

289 427 374 381 2,059

Total value of compensation paid for insufficient notice or interruptions to supply lasting longer than advised ($)

$59,390 $34,340 $52,460 $54,480 $46,600

Total number of reported street light faults

44,819 44,714 56,958 51,295 52,005

Number of times where repairs were late

277 3,978 1,807 642 341

Total value of compensation paid for repair of street lights ($)

$4,110 $2,895 $2,865 $2,745 $3,870

Number of complaints by small retail customers about network matters

6,796 6,351 8,721 8,026 10,246

Number of complaints from residential small retail customers

6,164 5,437 7,868 6,711 8,333

Number of complaints from non-residential small retail customers

632 914 853 847 1,189


B Notes and Definitions

The following notes and definitions are provided to NSW electricity distributors for reporting of performance indicators.

B.1 Customers

Customer means the person in whose name an electricity account is held under one supply contract.

Small retail customer means a customer whose electricity consumption in NSW is no more than 160 megawatt hours per annum.

Residential small retail customer means a small retail customer who uses their premises primarily for residential purposes.

Non-residential small retail customer means a small retail customer who uses their premises primarily for non-residential purposes.

B.2 Telephone service for reporting network faults

The resulting measures that may be used in IPART’s performance report are:

Percentage of calls answered within 30 seconds.

Percentage of calls that dropped out or were abandoned by the caller.

These measures are based upon a guaranteed customer service standard established under clause 40 and Schedule 3, Part 2, clause 11(1) of the Electricity Supply (General) Regulation 2001. A connection contract between a distributor and a small retail customer must require a distributor to provide a telephone service that operates on a number to which a person can be connected for not more than the price of a local telephone call and that can receive notice of, and give information concerning, faults and difficulties in the distributors’ electricity works. An automated answering service satisfies this requirement only if it makes provision for the transfer of calls to a human operator.

B.3 Timely provision of services


Number of connections not undertaken by the agreed date.

Value of compensation paid for not providing connection services by the agreed date.


These measures are based upon a guaranteed customer service standard established under clause 40 and Schedule 3, Part 2, clause 9 of the Electricity Supply (General) Regulation 2001. A connection contract between a distributor and a small retail customer must provide that if the distributor fails to provide a connection service under the contract on or before the date agreed between the distributor and the customer (or the customer’s representative) as the date by which the service is to be provided, the distributor is to pay to the customer, by way of compensation for the delay, not less than $60 for each day that elapses between the agreed date and the date by which the service is actually provided. The contract must provide that the maximum amount payable in relation to any one service is $300.

B.4 Timely notice of planned interruptions to supply


Number of planned interruptions to supply.

Number of planned interruptions to supply where the Licence Holder did not provide the required notice to affected customers.

Number of planned interruptions to supply where a Licence Holder interrupted supply longer than indicated in the relevant customer notice.

Value of compensation paid to customers for not providing the required notice or for interrupting supply for longer than indicated in the notice.

These measures are based upon a guaranteed customer service standard established under clause 40 and Schedule 3, Part 2, clause 10 of the Electricity Supply (General) Regulation 2001. A connection contract between a distributor and a small retail customer must provide that, if the distributor fails to provide to the customer at least 2 business days’ notice of any interruption by the distributor to the customer’s supply of electricity, or interrupts the customer’s supply of electricity for longer than the time indicated in any such notice, the distributor must pay the customer, by way of compensation for the interruption to supply, not less than $20.


B.5 Repair of faulty street lights

Average number of days to repair faulty street lights is total number of street light repair days/total number of reported street light faults


Number of reported street light faults.

Number of street light repairs that were not completed by the date agreed with the person reporting the fault.

Percentage of street light repairs that were not completed by the date agreed with the person reporting the fault.

Average number of days to repair faulty street lights.

Value of compensation paid to eligible persons for not completing street light repairs by the agreed date.

These measures are based upon a guaranteed customer service standard established under clause 40 and Schedule 3, Part 2, clause 12 of the Electricity Supply (General) Regulation 2001. A connection contract between a distributor and a small retail customer must provide that, if the distributor fails to repair faulty street lighting on or before the date agreed between the customer and the distributor as the date by which the repair is to be completed, the distributor must pay to the customer, by way of compensation for the loss of illumination, not less than $15.

This standard applies to street lighting that is owned by the distributor or that the distributor is under a legally enforceable obligation to maintain, but does not apply to street lighting to which the distributor merely supplies electricity or connection services. It also only applies in respect of the customer if the customer’s premises about the part of the street that (but for the fault) would ordinarily be illuminated by the street lighting.

B.6 Complaints

Complaint means a written or verbal expression of dissatisfaction about an action, a proposed action, or a failure to act by a Licence Holder, its employees, agents or contractors. This includes failure by a Licence Holder to observe its published or agreed practices or procedures. It does not include a complaint made about the Licence Holder to any other body.


Proportion of residential small retail customers that complained about distribution network service matters.

Proportion of non-residential small retail customers that complained about distribution network service matters.

Documents

Customer service performance of electricity distribution ...€¦ · Customer service performance of electricity distribution businesses IPART 5 Figure 3.1 Number of supply connections