Lumo Energy is an Australian energy retailer operating in
Victoria and
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, which has been wholly owned by
Snowy Hydro since 2014. The business offers electricity and gas packages in Victoria and South Australia. As of October 2017, the business had almost 500,000 customers and a workforce of just under 500 people.
History
Infratil registered as Victoria Electricity in 2002 and secured an electricity retail licence for the state of
Victoria in August 2002. Victoria Electricity commenced retailing electricity in February 2004. On 1 October 2002, the gas market in Victoria was opened to new gas retailers and full retail contestability for gas customers was introduced, enabling gas retailers to seek customers statewide. Victoria Electricity applied for and obtained a licence for gas retailing in Victoria in December 2004 and commenced gas retailing in early 2005. In May 2005, Infratil also registered
South Australia Electricity
Lumo Energy is an Australian energy retailer operating in Victoria and South Australia, which has been wholly owned by Snowy Hydro since 2014. The business offers electricity and gas packages in Victoria and South Australia. As of October 2017 ...
and
Queensland Electricity
Lumo Energy is an Australian energy retailer operating in Victoria and South Australia, which has been wholly owned by Snowy Hydro since 2014. The business offers electricity and gas packages in Victoria and South Australia. As of October 2017 ...
, and
New South Wales Electricity
Lumo Energy is an Australian energy retailer operating in Victoria and South Australia, which has been wholly owned by Snowy Hydro since 2014. The business offers electricity and gas packages in Victoria and South Australia. As of October 2017 ...
in August 2006.
In June 2010, Lumo Energy was incorporated as a company and as a business name in each of the four states in which it was active. In July 2011, Lumo partnered with
American Express
American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...
to offer the Lumo Express product, and in September 2011, it partnered with the
Velocity Frequent Flyer
Velocity is the frequent-flyer program of Virgin Australia Holdings.
History
Velocity was launched by Virgin Blue (later renamed Virgin Australia) in 2005 as Velocity Rewards, with partner National Australia Bank offering a companion credit card ...
program to offer the Lumo Velocity product.
In 2014, Infratil sold Lumo Energy, along with Direct Connect, to government-owned
Snowy Hydro for $600 million.
In July 2016, Lumo began to migrate customers in New South Wales to
Red Energy
Snowy Hydro Limited is an electricity generation and retailing company in Australia that owns, manages, and maintains the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme which consists of nine hydro-electric power stations and sixteen large dams connecte ...
and, in 2017, the same process began with customers in Queensland.
Customer satisfaction
In 2010, the
Queensland Competition Authority found Lumo Energy had the highest rate of unresolved complaints among the state's electricity retailers. In 2011, Lumo Energy lost a court case involving a customer whose gas and electricity were cut off over a $4,000 debt. According to the
Victorian Essential Services Commission, Lumo Energy sent the customer an initial letter which failed to mention separate disconnection periods for gas and electricity notices, as required by law.
In 2013, Lumo Energy announced it had made changes to improve customer relations, launching a new website and refreshing its customer communications. It also reported progress in the reduction of
Ombudsman
An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...
complaints, with a 53% reduction in complaints received in June 2013, compared with June 2010.
In August 2013, Lumo Energy was awarded the number one position for electricity in the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards.
See also
*
Energy in Australia
Energy in Australia is the production in Australia of energy and electricity, for consumption or export. Energy policy of Australia describes the politics of Australia as it relates to energy.
Australia is a net energy exporter, and was the ...
References
External links
*
{{EnergyQueensland
Utility companies of Australia
Electric power companies of Australia