We updated the energy rules to better protect residential customers that are anticipating or facing payment difficulty. 

Support for residential customers having trouble paying their energy bills

The framework has three key objectives

1. To help residential customers avoid getting into debt with their retailer.
2. To make it easier for residential customers to pay for their ongoing energy use, repay their debt when they have missed a bill and lower their energy costs.
3. To ensure residential customers are only disconnected for non-payment of a bill as a measure of last resort.

How we've supported the framework's objectives

The changes we made to the Energy Retail Code in relation to the payment difficulty framework took effect on 1 January 2019.

The payment difficulty framework is the culmination of three years work which began with an inquiry into why thousands of Victorians were being disconnected. In late 2017, we finalised the energy rules that support customers with payment difficulties and ensure that disconnection is only ever a measure of last resort.

The energy rules and the process undertaken to develop them can be found in our final decision.

This is accompanied by a guidance note that helps stakeholders understand our approach to compliance and enforcement of the new rules.

We also worked with retailers to update their hardship policies during 2018. All retailers must have  a hardship policy that contains specific information about how they support residential customers in payment difficulty. These documents are approved by us, must be published on the retailer's website and sent to you when requested at no charge.

The Victorian Energy Market Report aims to build consumer understanding of how the market operates.

The report tracks energy retailer activity and consumer trends for 2022-23, including articles covering:

Customers experiencing payment difficulty

• highlights challenges faced by consumers in paying their energy bills, indicated by a rise in consumers accessing bill payment assistance, and drop in customers exiting tailored assistance with no arrears.

Disconnections for non-payment

• provides an update on disconnections for non-payment in 2022-23 and highlights an increase in disconnection warning notices to consumers behind on payments.

Energy in Victoria (EiV)

• Broader compliance and enforcement activity – a summary of our compliance and enforcement actions in 2022-23
• Transmission company performance – provides an update on energy transmission company performance against the commission’s statement of expectations
• Energy distributor performance – an analysis of data and trends relating to energy distributor performance against relevant standards
• Market entry and exit – an update on licences granted, the regulatory sandboxing framework and electricity licence exemptions activity
• Reports and reviews – an overview of our most recent and upcoming publications

We have also released our latest interactive Victorian Energy Market Dashboard, which provides an overview of key trends in the energy market.

Victorian Energy Market Dashboard

With the Victorian Energy Market Report, we also publish the Victorian Energy Market Dashboard. The dashboard brings the data we previously published as Microsoft Excel tables into a more usable and interactive format.

The dashboard offers graphical representations that provide a quick overview of the essential trends in the energy market. It includes summaries of customer statistics, such as the number of customers and the types of contracts they are on. Additionally, it provides information on customers receiving assistance for bill payments, government concessions, and Utility Relief Grants. The dashboard also presents customer service performance metrics, including call waiting times, abandoned calls, and customer complaints. Furthermore, it covers disconnections for non-payment.

The Victorian Energy Market Dashboard enhances accessibility and facilitates a comprehensive understanding of key insights within the energy market.

Your energy company pays you feed-in tariffs for power you export to the grid (from sources including solar panels). Energy retail companies are responsible for setting their feed-in tariffs.

However, we set the minimum feed-in tariffs that retailers must pay. This means retailers have to offer you at least these minimum feed-in tariffs, but retailers can offer you feed-in tariffs above the minimum amounts.

Retailers can also offer solar customers a choice between a single rate or time-varying tariffs.

Feed-in-tariffs review 2024-25

We are currently reviewing the minimum feed-in tariffs.

Find out more about our review and how to make formal submissions on our 2024-25 minimum feed-in tariffs.

Minimum feed-in tariffs for 2023-24 

The table below shows the minimum feed-in tariffs for 2023-24. Retailers can offer solar customers a flat feed-in tariff and/or time-varying feed-in tariffs for electricity exported to the grid.

Why has the minimum tariff decreased?

Average wholesale electricity prices have gone up recently and are forecast to go up further. In the evening when electricity demand is highest, wholesale electricity prices have increased significantly due to a combination of high fuel prices, generator outages and weather conditions.

However, growth in installations of rooftop, and utility-scale, solar has decreased demand for and increased supply of electricity during the day. As a result wholesale prices at the times when solar exports happen are lower, leading to a lower feed in tariff.

Wholesale electricity prices make up around half of the costs covered by the minimum feed-in tariff. The wholesale price is set in a competitive national market, based on the supply of and demand for energy. The wholesale price is not set by government or a regulator.

The chart below shows how wholesale electricity prices are low during the day, when solar exports happen, but higher at night.

Why the minimum feed-in tariff is different to the retail electricity tariff

The minimum feed-in tariff is a payment you receive for generating electricity.

When retailers provide electricity to their customers, they must cover costs including:

• transporting electricity (the poles and wires connecting customers to electricity generators)
• operating a retail business (for example, billing and revenue collection systems, information technology systems, call centre costs, human resources, finance, legal services, regulatory compliance costs, licence costs and marketing)
• the ‘spot price’ of energy in the national energy market paid to generators
• hedging costs to provide a guaranteed price to their customers
• complying with environmental programs.

These additional costs mean the minimum feed-in tariff will always be lower than the retail electricity tariff.

Also, the retail price of electricity covers the cost of supplying energy at all times of the day. Because retailers must supply energy 24 hours a day, they must also pay for high cost electricity during the night (when wholesale electricity prices are higher). On the other hand solar exports happen during the day, when wholesale electricity prices are lower. So the wholesale prices in the feed-in tariff are lower than those for retail prices.

How we calculate the minimum feed-in tariff

Legislation controls how we regulate the minimum feed-in tariff. The costs we must include are set out in the Electricity Industry Act 2000. By no later than 28 February each year, we must set the minimum feed-in tariffs to apply for the next financial year.

We calculate the minimum feed-in tariffs by forecasting the wholesale price of electricity for the year ahead. This has the following affect on the minimum feed-in tariffs:

• The forecast includes wholesale electricity market information available up to the time of the decision. This means that for each decision effective from 1 July, the forecast wholesale prices is based on market information up to February of that year.
• Any changes in wholesale electricity market after the publication of the final decision in one year are included in the next decision. This means any changes in the wholesale electricity market after the final decision will be incorporated in the wholesale electricity price forecasts for the feed-in tariffs for 1 July of the next financial year.

The wholesale price varies across different times of the day due to changing supply and demand. As solar panels generally export power between certain hours of the day, we only use the forecast wholesale price for electricity during these ‘solar hours’.

In our calculation, we also include:

1. avoided transmission and distribution losses: the value of energy saved by not transporting the energy long distances from large scale generators.
2. other fees and charges: the value of market fees and ancillary service charges that retailers avoid when energy is produced by solar customers.
3. environmental benefits of renewable energy: the value associated with reducing greenhouse gas emissions when energy is produced by solar customers. It is currently set at 2.5 cents per kilowatt hour (c/kWh). 

For more information about our methodology and review process for the 2023-24 minimum feed-in tariff, see our final decision paper.

Got a question?

Contact us for more information. 

This code sets out the rules electricity and gas retailers must follow when selling energy to Victorian customers. This page also includes guidance to help industry and consumers understand their existing obligations under the Energy Retail Code of Practice.

It covers areas including:

• customer contracts
• billing disputes
• payment difficulties
• contents of bills. 

We review and amend the code to reflect legislative and statutory requirements, and to make sure it meets changing requirements. 

This page allows you to access amendments that are yet to commence and past versions of the code.

‘Fixed benefit’ periods are a feature of some customer’s energy contracts. They are typically a set period of time during which a discount or benefit applies. For example, a 20 per cent discount for the first 12 months of a two year contract. 

In early 2018, we changed the Energy Retail Code so that energy retailers in Victoria must notify customers when any 'fixed benefit' periods change or end.

From February 1 2018, retailers in Victoria are required to notify customers when any fixed benefit periods change or end

We have made these changes to the Energy Retail Code so that customers know about upcoming changes to their benefits before they happen. This will provide customers with an opportunity to consider their options, including switching to a better offer. Under the changes, retailers are also required to remind customers they can compare energy plans by visiting the government’s Victorian Energy Compare website.

You can find more detail about these changes in our final decision, which is in line with our draft decisions. You can also read the submissions we received in response to the draft decision. We considered this feedback prior to releasing our final decision. 

We’re making this change in line with recent national updates

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) also changed the national energy retail rules to require retailers operating in other states to notify their customers of upcoming changes to their discounts or benefits. The AEMC made the change via its expedited rule change process, which means these changes took effect on 1 February 2018.

In 2017, the Victorian Government introduced new rules for exempt persons that requires them to register with us for an electricity licensing exemption. Many exempt sellers and suppliers that do not have an electricity licence, and supply or sell electricity to other people, must register with us.

You may need to register with us if you:

• buy electricity from a licensed retailer and then sell it to other people
• supply electricity between the electricity meter and individual customers.

Under the new rules, solar power purchase agreement providers and some community energy projects also need to register with us.

The General Exemption Order

In Victoria, the Electricity Industry Act 2000 requires that persons undertaking a regulated activity, such as the sale or supply of electricity, need a licence unless there is an exemption that applies. The General Exemption Order (GEO) sets out the activities which are eligible for an exemption, and the conditions which must be complied with.

Key changes in the General Exemption Order 2022

In October 2018, the Victorian Government announced an election commitment to restrict embedded networks in new residential apartment buildings, with limited exemptions.

The GEO 2022 implements phase one of the reforms, restricting the sale of energy in relation to the new embedded networks (where there are 10 or more residential customers) unless the exempt person can meet specific conditions, including a new renewable energy condition.

Persons who are undertaking sale in relation to an embedded network pursuant to an exemption under the GEO 2017 will not, however, need to comply with the renewable energy condition, as this only applies to new embedded networks as of 1 January 2023.

The GEO 2022 requires that electricity sold or supplied by an exempt person, including new embedded networks which have to meet the new renewable energy condition, must not exceed the Victorian Default Offer which is the relevant maximum price formulated by the Essential Services Commission. 

The GEO 2022 also exempts persons that sell or supply electricity for the purposes of charging an electric vehicle from having to obtain a licence.

The General Exemption Order 2022 (GEO 2022) commenced on 1 January 2023.

Transitional provisions under the GEO 2022 give certainty to existing exemption holders that their exemptions under the GEO 2017 will continue to apply. However, from 1 January 2023, anyone relying on an exemption under the GEO 2022 will be responsible for ensuring they register with the commission (if applicable) and comply with any applicable conditions.

Additional information about the changes are included in this Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning fact sheet.

New renewable energy condition

The new renewable energy condition requires that 100 per cent of electricity sold by an exempt person at a new embedded network site, with 10 or more residential customers, must come from renewable energy sources.  

The condition requires that at least five per cent of the electricity sold to residential customers must be generated using onsite renewable energy facilities and that the balance is covered by offsite renewable energy.

An exempt person at a new embedded network must keep records of the following for at least seven years and provide a summary of this information to the commission annually:

• the amount of electricity supplied to that new embedded network from a licensed distribution company’s distribution system;
• the amount of electricity supplied to that new embedded network that is generated by means of that new embedded network’s onsite renewable energy facilities;
• the amount of electricity the exempt person sells to residential customers in that new embedded network including the amount of that electricity that is generated by means of that new embedded network’s onsite renewable energy facilities;
• any qualifying LGCs voluntarily surrendered by the exempt person;
• any voluntary surrender arrangement; and
• any GreenPower arrangement.

Electric vehicle (EV) charging stations

The sale or supply of electricity from EV charging stations now have their own deemed exemption categories in the GEO 2022.

Each year on or before 1 February, such deemed exempt persons must provide information to the commission, in the form required by the commission, with details of:

• the number of customers ​to whom they have sold electricity and
• the number of electric vehicles that have been charged with that electricity.

Further Information

If you have general questions about the Embedded Networks Review and subsequent reforms included in the GEO 2022, please contact the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning at embeddednetworks.review@delwp.vic.gov.au.

If you have questions regarding the registration database, consumer protections or pricing relating to exempt persons, please contact the Essential Services Commission at exemptionregister@esc.vic.gov.au or 1300 664 969.

If you have questions regarding the Australian Energy Regulator’s network exemptions framework, please contact the Australian Energy Regulator at AERinquiry@aer.gov.au or 1300 585 165.

This review focused on amending the Electricity Distribution Code to allow for the operation of Rapid Earth Fault Current Limiter (REFCL) technology to prevent bushfires.

We have now updated the code

Changes to the code enable use of REFCLs at 45 high voltage substations in high risk fire areas across Victoria. The introduction of the technology was an outcome of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission and subsequent new bushfire mitigation regulations.

The amended code allows for future installation of REFCLs at additional sites on the high voltage for safety and other purposes provided this is approved by Energy Safe Victoria.

The changes to the code came into effect on 20 August 2018.

We have been asked by the Victorian Government to monitor and report on the competitiveness and efficiency of the Victorian energy retail market, as part of recommendations made by the independent bipartisan review of electricity and gas retail markets in 2018.

Since then, we have engaged with interested stakeholders and the public to develop a framework and approach to help assess whether the Victorian energy retail market is delivering good value to energy consumers.

We held a public forum on 7 November 2019 to hear from a broad range of experts including economists, energy experts, consumer advocates, industry, regulators, commentators and policy makers about their perspectives on this topic. See the resources tab for presentation materials from the forum.

It will help ensure that the Victorian energy retail market delivers benefits to consumers by providing value for money energy prices and great customer service.

The Victorian energy market report 2020–21 provides our first report under this framework. In this report, we provide a detailed article on a ‘striking consumer preference’ for large energy retailers, including detailed economic analysis and research on how the market is functioning.

New rules to help customers navigate the energy market

In response to recommendation 3 from the independent retail market review we are implementing a suite of reforms that help customers engage confidently and build trust in the retail energy market that took effect from 1 July 2019.

The new rules will promote transparency in the market by keeping customers informed of changes that affect their bills and whether they could access a better offer from their retailer. Retailers will also present prices inclusive of GST to make it easier to compare offers between retailers. The final decision for these reforms was released in October 2018. We also released a final decision in June 2019 clarifying how the new best offer and clear advice reforms interact with the Victorian Default Offer.

We have also made changes to information disclosure and marketing rules. We have introduced a new Victorian energy fact sheet to help customers easily compare energy plan information. The final high-level decision for these reforms was made in March 2019, and the technical final decision in May 2019.

'Best offer' information for energy consumers

Retailers must tell customers on their bill whether they're on the best energy plan and how much the customer could save by switching, at least quarterly for electricity bills, and at least every four months for gas bills.

Clear advice before you sign a new energy deal

Retailers will help customers navigate to a product that best suits their circumstances. 

Fact sheets for consumers

   All plans will have a fact sheet that shows the expected average yearly cost of the plan for a number of typical households. 

Prior warning of bill changes

Retailers will be required to notify customers at least five days prior to price or benefit changes that will affect the customer's bill. When they do this, energy retailers must include a 'best offer' message telling customers whether a cheaper plan is available, and how much the customer could save by switching.

Customer read estimates

Customers that receive an estimated bill will be able to request an adjustment to their bill by submitting a self-read of their meter prior to the bill due date. 

The Victorian Government’s General Exemption Order (a key document related to electricity licensing exemptions) specifies that most exempt persons, such as embedded electricity networks in some apartment buildings, shopping centres, caravan parks and retirement villages, must join a customer dispute resolution scheme by 1 July 2018.

We have approved the Energy and Water Ombudsman (Victoria) (EWOV) as a customer dispute resolution scheme for the purposes of the General Exemption Order.

View more on electricity licensing exemptions. 

On 12 December 2017 (EWOV) applied to the commission to vary its existing approval to include the relevant embedded networks.

In considering and approving an application for a customer dispute resolution scheme, we must consider section 28(2) of the Electricity Industry Act 2000. The Act states:

• the objectives of the commission under this Act and under the Essential Services Commission Act 2001
• the need to ensure that the scheme is accessible to the licensee's customers and that there are no cost barriers to those customers using the scheme
• the need to ensure that the scheme is independent of the members of the scheme
• the need for the scheme to be fair and be seen to be fair
• the need to ensure that the scheme will publish decisions and information about complaints received by the scheme so as to be accountable to the members of the scheme and the customers of the scheme members
• the need for the scheme to undertake regular reviews of its performance to ensure that its operation is efficient and effective.

We invited interested stakeholders to provide their feedback on EWOV’s application, specifically in relation to section 28(2) of the Electricity Industry Act 2000. Three submissions were received.