Annual Report 2018-19

From 1 July 2019, new reforms we’ve implemented will give Victorians the power to make the most of their energy. Here’s the regulatory achievements we’ve put in place to promote the long-term interests of Victorian energy consumers.

2013–14 – Annual rate of residential electricity and gas disconnections peaks at 58,503, or 64,451 including small business.

2015–16 – We conduct an inquiry (under terms of reference from the Victorian Government) into energy retailers’ financial hardship programs.

2016 – The Victorian Government gives us new powers to protect customers, doubles the daily penalty rate for wrongful disconnections (we issue these penalties) and introduces penalties for breaches of the energy rules.

2016–17 – We develop a new payment difficulty framework requiring energy retailers to help customers avoid getting into debt. New customer protections apply from 1 January 2019.

1 Jul 18 – The debt threshold before an electricity or gas customer can be disconnected increases from $132 to $300.

2017–18 – Energy retailers update their hardship policies to comply with new payment difficulty rules. We implement new protections for embedded network customers, which can include people who live in an apartment complex, retirement home, or caravan park, and tenants in shopping centres.

From 1 Jan 19 – New customer protections under the payment difficulty framework come into effect.

From 1 Jul 19 – Energy retailers must put ‘best offer’ information on customer bills three to four times a year. Victorian Default Offer becomes available. New rules relating to fairer contracts will come into effect.

Environmental factors

There are several environmental factors influencing our energy work, including:

• The energy market (and the policy framework supporting its operation) continues to evolve.
• New energy technologies and service models are being introduced into the sector, while new policy developments at a state and national level aim to address energy market efficiency. 
• Our regulatory reform work program continues to consider the evolving nature of the energy market and related policy and technological developments.

Cost of our energy industry activities

In 2018–19, the total cost of our energy regulatory activities was extra $8.56 million. The cost includes the direct costs incurred by the team plus an allocation for overhead costs.

‘The new regulations around “best offer” and the Victorian Default Offer ... are excellent. The guidelines for [the] Victorian Default Offer are by far the best I have ever read – so congratulations to all involved on that.’ Anonymous stakeholder response in our reputation survey 2019.