During the coronavirus pandemic, we are regularly reporting on the number of energy customers who are on payment plans and enquiring about assistance with paying bills.
Energy customer support during the coronavirus pandemic
Overview
During the coronavirus pandemic, we are regularly requesting data from electricity and gas retailers on the number of energy customers who are:
- on payment plans
- enquiring about assistance with paying bills.
We are providing information about the data we receive on this page.
Data is reported by retailers on a voluntary basis and not audited by us.
Key findings: March 2022
For the March 2022 quarter, we received submissions from 19 energy retailers, covering 98 per cent of Victorian electricity customers.
Key findings
- There were 6,921 completed electricity and 2,176 gas disconnections for non-payment between 1 January 2022 and 31 March 2022 (residential and small-business customers), as reported by 14 retailers.
- There were fewer electricity and gas customers who can pay for their ongoing electricity or gas usage on tailored assistance in the months between January and March 2022. The number of customers receiving tailored assistance who cannot pay for their ongoing usage decreased for electricity and gas between January and March 2022.
- The average arrears for residential customers on tailored assistance who can pay ongoing usage increased for electricity and gas between January and March 2022, where gas in March 2022 was at its highest. As the number of people who cannot pay their on-going use decreases, their average arrears has increased for electricity and gas between January and March 2022.