Regulator secures record redress, boosts enforcement and streamlines rules

The Essential Services Commission continued to put Victorian consumers first in 2025–26, securing record customer redress, strengthening protections, taking more enforcement action, and simplifying regulatory processes to help businesses do the right thing.

2025-26 at a glance

Protecting consumers through enforcement

The commission secured a record $131 million in customer remediation from energy and water businesses through credits, debt waivers and other redress. This included:

• accepting its largest ever court-enforceable undertaking, requiring Greater Western Water to deliver a $130 million remediation package following billing failures
• securing approximately $1.2 million in credits and debt waivers from EnergyAustralia following alleged failures to inform customers of their payment assistance entitlements
• requiring a Victorian Energy Upgrades (VEU) accredited business to rectify non-compliant water heater installations at its own cost.

Five businesses were issued significant penalties for major alleged breaches of Victoria’s energy laws, including:

• fining ENGIE $1.2 million for failing to respond to customer complaints about billing issues in a timely way
• fining EnergyAustralia more than $1 million for providing incorrect information about its energy plans to customers
• fining Momentum Energy over $700,000 for failing to uphold critical protections for customers affected by family violence.

Separately, the commission commenced civil proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria against ENGIE, alleging broader customer support failures.

Safeguarding the integrity of the Victorian Energy Upgrades program

The commission stepped up compliance checks in the VEU program to support the integrity of the program and make sure energy efficient upgrades deliver genuine energy savings.

Thousands of post-installation compliance checks, including inspections and consumer phone audits, led to enforcement action against 18 accredited businesses, with more under investigation. A special taskforce also continued its work to stamp out fraudulent activity in the program.

Action included ordering businesses to forfeit $15.7 million in energy efficiency certificates and cancelling the accreditation of 10 businesses.

Reforms and better support for energy customers

The commission made significant reforms to Victoria’s energy rules, including changes that will:

• provide greater support to customers struggling to pay their bills
• improve transparency of offers and help customers avoid paying more than they need to.

It is now working on the next stage of reforms, focussed on strengthening protections for Victorians experiencing vulnerability and improving outcomes for First Nations energy customers.

A partnership with Women’s Health in the North also helped to understand and address barriers to accessing energy services and support for migrant and refugee women.

Streamlining regulation while maintaining protections

The commission made legislation clearer and easier for businesses to meet their obligations, while maintaining consumer protections, including:

• removing unnecessary licence conditions to reduce the time and effort involved in managing an electricity generation licence
• updating rules to better align with national approaches, and removed outdated or duplicated requirements, including streamlining public lighting regulation
• clarifying and improving guidance to support compliance and reduce uncertainty, including updating the Better Practice in Responding to Family Violence Handbook.

Quotes attributable to Essential Services Commission Chairperson and Commissioner Gerard Brody

“Our compliance and enforcement work, and reforms in 2025–26 are delivering on our vision of providing fair and dependable essential services to all Victorians.”

“We’re cutting unnecessary red tape and making rules clearer to help businesses comply, while consumers remain protected. We’re also monitoring compliance and taking more enforcement action than ever, to put consumers first and hold businesses to account for harmful conduct.”

“Victorians should be able to trust that VEU upgrades are legitimate, which is why we stepped up checks, took enforcement action, and established a dedicated team to target fraud in the program.”

Background

The VEU program is an energy efficiency program that helps Victorians cut their energy bills by supporting households and businesses to use energy more efficiently. Accredited businesses undertake energy efficiency upgrades that entitle them to create Victorian energy efficiency certificates, which they can then sell.