January 2025 - Changes to retail energy contracts

The Energy and Water Ombudsmen were provided an opportunity to comment on a consultation paper which covered the following 4 rule change requests proposed by the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC). These formed part of a larger package of 7 rule change requests that together seek to help households access cheaper energy deals, increase support for people experiencing hardship, and deliver more protections for energy consumers.

  1. Ensuring energy plan benefits last the length of the contract.
  2. Removing unreasonable conditional discounts.
  3. Preventing price increases for a fixed period under market retail contracts.
  4. Removing fees and charges.

We contributed to a joint response with EWON and EWOSA, which was broadly supportive of the new protections.

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