Lumo Energy, as is Red Energy, a trading name of Snowy Hydro, is an Australian energy retailer operating in Victoria and South Australia. Lumo Energy has been wholly owned by Snowy Hydro since 2014. The business offers electricity and gas packages in Victoria and South Australia. As at October 2017, the business has almost 500,000 customers and a workforce of just under 500 people. Victoria Electricity, a trading name of Infratil, secured an electricity retail licence for Victoria in August 2002 and electricity retailing commenced in February 2004. A licence for gas retailing in Victoria was obtained in December 2004 and gas retailing commenced in early 2005. Similar licences were obtained in May 2005 for South Australia and Queensland, and for New South Wales in August 2006.
History
registered 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 and Queensland Electricity, and New South Wales Electricity 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 is active. In July 2011, Lumo Energy partnered with American Express to offer the Lumo Express product, and in September 2011, it partnered with the Velocity Frequent Flyer program to offer the Lumo Velocity product. In 2014, Infratil sold Lumo Energy, along with Direct Connect, to the government-owned Snowy Hydro for $600 million. In July 2016 Lumo began to migrate customers from New South Wales to Red Energy In 2017 customers from Queensland began to be migrated from Lumo to Red Energy
All of the markets that Lumo Energy are involved in and are part of Australia's National Electricity Market. The NEM facilitates exchange between electricity providers and consumers through a gross pool where output is aggregated and planned to meet consumer demand. This method allows for sophisticated pricing structures and rolling blackout arrangements to ensure security of supply regardless of consumer demand.
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 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 made changes to improve customer relations, by re-branding their website and refreshing their customer communications. Lumo Energy also reported progress in the reduction of Ombudsman complaints, with a 53% reduction in complaints received in June 2013, compared with complaints received in June 2010. In August 2013, Lumo Energy was awarded the number one position for electricity in the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards.
