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Approval method of a consumer complaints resolution scheme

Consultation on proposal to approve a joint electricity and gas complaints resolution scheme - March 2009
Request for Applications – September 2008
Submissions Analysis – September 2008
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Under the Electricity Act 1992 (Act) and Government Policy Statement on Electricity Governance May 2009 (GPS), the Commission is responsible for approving a consumer complaints resolution system.

Any person, including potential consumers and owners and occupiers of land, whether or not they have a consumer contract, is to have access to a complaints resolution system for resolving complaints about electricity distributors and retailers. Once a complaints resolution system has been approved by the Electricity Commission, participation in such a system is compulsory for all electricity distributors (including Transpower) and electricity retailers.

The Commission is also working closely with the Gas Industry Co to co-ordinate approaches to approval and governance of an electricity and gas consumer complaints scheme.

Consultation on proposal to approve a joint electricity and gas complaints resolution scheme - March 2009

The Electricity Commission and Gas Industry Co (GIC) have jointly agreed to select, for the purposes of consultation, the Electricity and Gas Complaints Commission scheme (EGCC scheme) as their preferred provider of a gas and electricity industry consumer complaints resolution system. This follows assessment of all the applications that were received in December 2008 in response to the request for applications issued in September 2008 (see below).

The Commission and GIC published a consultation paper in March 2009 that assesses the industry-based scheme that would be provided by the EGCC against other practicable options for an energy-based complaints scheme.

The Electricity Commission and Gas Industry Co will jointly seek to agree their final decision as to whether the industry-based EGCC scheme should be finally approved by the Electricity Commission under section 158G of the Electricity Act 1992 and recommended to the Minister of Energy and Resources for approval under section 43E of the Gas Act 1992.

Request for Applications – September 2008

In September 2008, the Electricity Commission and Gas Industry Co sought applications from persons who wish to be selected as the preferred candidate for approval as a complaints resolution scheme under the Electricity Act and the Gas Act 1992.

This request for applications (RFA) provides background information, outlines the timetable and process for applications, sets out the criteria that an application will be assessed against, and outlines the timetable for establishing the complaints resolution scheme once approved.

Preferred provider

A number of applications were received in response and a joint panel from the Electricity Commission and Gas Industry Co evaluated the applications received. The Electricity Commission and Gas Industry Co agreed a preferred applicant in late February 2009. The details of the preferred applicant’s scheme are outlined in the March 2009 consultation paper “Proposal to approve a joint electricity and gas complaints resolution scheme”

Submissions Analysis – September 2008

In March 2008, the Electricity Commission and Gas Industry Co issued a consultation paper on Approval of a Joint Gas and Electricity Complaints Resolution Scheme. The consultation paper outlined a reasonably detailed set of proposed achievement standards that a scheme would be considered against for approval.

This Submissions Analysis paper is to:

highlights submissions on a number of key issues that emerged;
outlines the decisions of the Electricity Commission and Gas Industry Co in respect of those key issues which are reflected in the Request for Applications; and
summarises other amendments to the achievement standards that arose from submissions.
Submissions Analysis - September 2008 pdf [249 KB]

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