Victorians will have the option of getting a text message or an email instead of a letter notifying them about planned outages in changes to the state’s electricity distribution code.
View our determinations
Download a list of all the determinations we have made under section 36 of the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target Regulations (2018).
16 July 2024
List of determinations made by the commission
(pdf, 177.24 KB
Licence grantedMTA Energy Pty Ltd (ACN 622 895 274) was granted an electricity retail licence on 10 February 2021. The licence can be accessed via the resources tab.Licence variedThe licence was last varied on 9 October 2024.
… customers feel supported and more satisfied with water businesses 15 december 2020 a new report shows victoria’s water businesses responded to the needs of their customers in a year that saw more needing help because of bushfires and the coronavirus pandemic. the essential … who had difficulty paying bills were supported through a difficult year. “water businesses increased access to financial support, and paused debt
… victorians on life support now have greater protection 05 december 2019 tens of thousands of victorian energy consumers who rely on life support equipment at home will now have greater protections under new rules from the victorian energy regulator. the new rules made by the essential services commission mean life support customers will be protected as soon as they pick up the phone, and … Tens of
Penalty notices
We issued Simply Energy with 15 penalty notices in November 2019.
Simply Energy penalty notices 2019 (explicit informed consent)
(pdf, 3.47 MB)
Further information
Key audit results 2018–19
Alinta Energy could not show us they obtained a customer’s consent over the phone before switching the customer to their plan.
Alinta Energy could not show us they had consistently trained their marketing representatives.
Alinta Energy could not show us they had consistently identified customers eligible for payment plans and if they had consistently assessed customers’ capacity to pay before placing them on a plan.
Recommended actions
We
We accepted an enforceable undertaking from Momentum Energy about refunding customers who Momentum Energy had overcharged by failing to apply concessions to each customer’s account.
Momentum Energy's enforceable undertaking for refunding customers it had overcharged
Momentum Energy overcharged customers an amount equal to or more than the overcharge threshold of $50 and failed to inform each customer of the overcharging within 10 business days after Momentum Energy became aware
28 November 2019
Download this update as a PDF
(pdf, 110.58 KB)
Victorian Energy Upgrades accredited persons submitting claims should ensure that they can provide all supporting evidence on request.
What we did
We engaged the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) to monitor consumer sentiment in 2020 and during the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to general sentiment, we asked customers about their experiences and behaviours when engaging with their energy retailer.
We collected information from customer surveys in June, August and October 2020.
Select findings
Customer concern about paying energy bills has increased
In June 2020, 21 per cent of respondents
Wharfage fees for exports could be reduced and the fees for some imports increased under a proposal from the Port of Melbourne to rebalance its prescribed service tariffs for 2021-22.
Each year we consult on the minimum electricity feed-in tariff that your energy company is allowed to pay you for power you export to the grid (from sources including solar panels). We receive a lot of stakeholder feedback and questions on the minimum feed-in tariff.
In this article we look at one of the most common questions.
Social Energy Australia Pty Ltd (ACN 631 510 042) applied for a licence to sell electricity by retail under section 18 of the Electricity Industry Act 2000 (Vic).
We may grant or refuse to grant applications for any reason we consider appropriate having regard to our objectives under the Electricity Industry Act 2000 (Vic) and the Essential Services Commission Act 2001 (Vic).
Social Energy Australia Pty Ltd withdrew its electricity retail licence
The Essential Services Commission has increased the amount energy retailers can charge Victorian customers who do not make their payment on time to 5.71 per cent.
Changing market conditions are behind the state energy regulator’s decision to increase the Victorian Default Offer by about five percent from 1 July 2022.
… compliance monitoring - energy billing practices monitoring whether retailers are providing best offer messages on customers’ energy bills. breadcrumb home compliance monitoring - energy billing practices one of our compliance and enforcement priorities in 2022-23 was ensuring that retailers are informing customers about whether they are on their best offer when purchasing energy. we conducted a proactive compliance monitoring program focusing on whether retailers are complying … the
We completed our review of the maximum taxi non-cash payment surcharge in Victoria. This surcharge applies when a taxi passenger pays for a fare using non-cash payment transaction options including credit, debit and charge card.
Our decision is to maintain the maximum taxi non-cash payment
The Essential Services Commission has called on industry to put consumers at the centre of the energy system in its latest quarterly report.
Water bills will rise over 2022–23, but increases will be below inflation for most Victorian residential customers.
The Essential Services Commission has confirmed the prices to apply from 1 July for the state’s 18 water businesses. Average bills for the year ahead for owner-occupier households will rise by $10 (one per cent) in Melbourne and $45 (four per cent) in regional Victoria.
The Essential Services Commission has proposed an increase to the maximum fares payable by passengers hailing a taxi from the street or at a taxi rank to address higher running costs and taxi driver shortages.
The commission is reviewing the maximum fares that can be charged for ‘unbooked’ taxi services, and has released a draft decision that proposes to increase maximum fares by 10.4 per cent for unbooked taxi trips.