A MOUNT Isa electrical contractor has faced lengthy waits for approval to upgrade switchboards in the past seven months.
Neil Byrne, of Byrne Electrics, said he had to receive approval from Ergon Energy to upgrade or replace switchboards. He said the approval once took 48 hours, but recently he has waited up to 22 days for approval.
“We used to schedule a form with them and we only ever had to give 48 hours’ notice. Now I have to wait to schedule my work around Ergon’s schedule,” Mr Byrne said.
Mr Byrne said the paperwork was once processed in Mount Isa, but after Ergon job cuts it was now processed in Townsville.
“I can’t do the job until Ergon are there,” he said.
An Ergon Energy spokesperson confirmed there had been a change in the process that meant paperwork would be centralised in Townsville for efficiency and effectiveness.
But, he said there were no outstanding service orders for Mount Isa.
“The electrical contractor’s paperwork is generally processed daily,” the spokesperson said.
“The claim of 22 days does not match with the current situation of no outstanding service orders for work on customers’ switchboards.
“Contractors are phoned with confirmation of what they require and are advised that until customers confirm payment of these fees, jobs cannot be scheduled.
“If new meters are required to be installed on a customer’s switchboard, there is no cost to the customer and Ergon liaises with the electrical contractor to make a suitable time to undertake work.”
State member for Mount Isa, Rob Katter, said he feared a further slashing of jobs at Ergon Energy would only exacerbate the already dire situation for electrical contractors in the city.
“I’ve had complaints from two major electrical contractors in Mount Isa concerning the length of time it takes for them to get approval from Ergon Energy in Townsville for new or upgraded switchboards here in Mount Isa,” Mr Katter said.
“Now Ergon has announced 95 more positions across the state are going to be made redundant and it looks as though 55 of those will be lost from Townsville,” he said.
Mr Katter said electrical contractors are being held to ransom and have to run their businesses around Ergon’s staffing cuts.
“They have five or six switchboards sitting in each of their offices daily, waiting for Ergon approval, and that delay affects their cash flow as well as the safety of their customers,” he said.
Mr Katter said he’d addressed the staff shortages with the Minister for Energy and Water Supply, Mark McArdle in Parliament last April and got a lacklustre response about difficulty of staffing in rural and remote regions.
“I can’t help but wonder if these job losses are part of trimming Ergon right down to the bare minimum, to prepare it for sale.”
