Energy distributor AusNet Services has paid $150,000 after allegedly failing to notify customers of a planned power outage.
The Essential Services Commission issued the penalties after finding that the distributor left a mix of residential and business customers in Bass, Woolamai and Glen Forbes without electricity for three hours on July 18, 2018.
Commission chairperson Dr Ron Ben-David says the commission issued the company fifteen $10,000 energy industry penalty notices.
“Customers who are not notified of a planned interruption to their electricity supply don’t have the chance to prepare for the loss of power,” he said.
“A failure to notify customers that their power will be cut can leave them stranded without the ability to light, cook, or heat their home for the duration of the interruption.”
Dr Ben-David says the failure to notify businesses may have also caused financial losses as a result of lost trading or the loss of perishable goods.
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