Compo win a warning for utilities
Ruling might set power-cuts precedent, writes Alice Peacock.
A power customer is hailing a ‘‘victory for the little guy’’ after Contact Energy was ordered to pay for the replacement of a house alarm battery ruined in a major outage.
Peter Connolly was awarded $157 on top of a $50 payment offered by Vector after thousands of Auckland homes lost power for more than two days in 2014.
Contact Energy is challenging the ruling from the Electricity and Gas Complaints Commissioner (EGCC), and industry experts believe the compensation ruling could set a precedent.
Connolly was stung with a $207 bill to replace his house alarm battery and reset the system after the major outage, which caused chaos in Auckland’s eastern suburbs in 2014.
The Remuera resident said Vector and Contact fobbed off his complaints, so he went to the EGCC, which found Contact was liable to pay Connolly the $157.
The 60-year-old was stoked that ‘‘the little man won’’.
‘‘Most people don’t have the time of day to sort out these minor issues, but at the end of the day the principle needs addressing.’’
He didn’t understand how it had become such a big issue.
‘‘Vector wouldn’t address matter until they found what cause of the outage was.’’
He only wanted Vector or Contact to put the matter right, but that ‘‘seemed to be a problem for them’’.
A Contact Energy spokesman said they would be contesting the decision.
‘‘The parties have the the the ability to provide further submissions on the EGCC proposal received just a few days ago, on 25 May,’’ he said.
Independent electricity commentator Molly Melhuish said the ruling could set a precedent.
Melhuish said many other appliances would be affected by loss of power, and customers could claim for compensation for items such as ruined food.
A November 2015 inquiry found that the fire was caused by an electrical failure in a cable joint.
As a result of the findings, lines company Vector apologised to customers and offered a service level payment.
This would cover $50 for residential customers and $200 for affected businesses. The estimated cost of the power outage to consumers was between $47 million and $72 million.
Vector said the $50 payment was part of their ‘‘service guarantee standards’’.