Annual reports

We celebrated our 30-year anniversary this year with our ‘Markets and consumers, efficiency and fairness’ conference. The conference brought together a diverse array of stakeholders from regulated industries, the community sector and government to discuss the emerging challenges of regulating for Victorian consumers.

We instituted four court proceedings against two energy retailers in 2023–24 for the first time. These matters are currently before the Supreme Court of Victoria. The matters relate to retailers allegedly failing to meet their obligations under the energy rules which include protections for consumers who are experiencing vulnerability or have difficulty engaging in the energy market.

Following consultation in 2023–24, from 1 July 2024, the average amount Victorian Default Offer customers pay for their electricity reduced by around $100 (or 6 per cent) annually for residential customers and around $260 (or 7 per cent) for small business customers.

We published an enforceable Land Access Code of Practice. This code regulates the rules and processes that transmission companies must follow when accessing or seeking to access private land. The new code of practice came into effect on 1 March 2024.

Several changes to the Victorian Energy Upgrades program came into effect from 1 July 2023. This included new accreditation processes, new fees and strengthened powers for the commission. We also released publications to help consumers understand their rights and the process to report breaches of new telemarketing and doorknocking bans.

We amended the Water Industry Standards to include new reporting obligations for Victorian water businesses when they identify actual or potential non-compliance with the standards. The obligations will better enable the commission to promote water businesses’ compliance and provide stronger protections for consumers.

The licences issued in 2023–24 included: ten electricity generation licences; four electricity wholesale licences; three electricity retail licence; and one electricity transmission licence. All licence applications are subject to public consultation and consideration of the long-term interests of Victoria’s energy consumers.

We completed a review of the pricing proposals for Goulburn-Murray Water and Greater Western Water in 2023–24, approving the maximum prices they may charge from 1 July 2024. We also approved the 2023–24 tariffs for 16 Victorian water businesses.