Overview

We recently sought your views on our 2026–27 Victorian Default Offer: Request for Comment Paper, about the methodology we use to set the prices.

Consultation on our Request for Comment Paper has now closed. We are reviewing all the submissions and the feedback we received.

We have published 32 non-confidential submissions under the 'Resources' tab on this page.

Next steps

We will address feedback on our Request for Comment Paper in our Draft Decision Paper. Your feedback will inform our draft and final decisions.

We plan to release a draft decision in March 2026 followed by an online public forum. More details on the public forum including how to register will be provided closer to the event.

Contact Us

Should you have any questions regarding our consultation process, you can contact us via:

• Email: VDO@esc.vic.gov.au
• Mail: Essential Services Commission, Level 8, 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000
• Phone: 03 9032 1300 

Mornington BESS Project Pty Ltd (ACN 644 610 855) as trustee for Mornington BESS Project Trust (ABN 47 869 876 252) applied for a licence to generate electricity for supply or sale of section 18 of the Electricity Industry Act 2000 (Vic).

We may grant or refuse the grant the application 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).

How we assess licence applications

We will not grant a licence unless we are satisfied that:

• the applicant has the technical capacity to comply with the conditions of the licence, meaning it has the capacity to operate and manage the business, comply with licence conditions and comply with relevant regulatory obligations.
• the applicant is financially viable (where applicable)
• the applicant is a 'fit and proper' person to hold a licence in Victoria.

You can refer to our Apply for an electricity or gas licence | Essential Services Commission for more information.

The guideline includes information to assist people to understand our licensing process.

Have your say

We are seeking feedback from stakeholders on Mornington BESS Project Pty Ltd (ACN 644 610 855) as trustee for Mornington BESS Project Trust (ABN 47 869 876 252)'s electricity generation licence application.

You can respond by providing a submission or comments via email or mail.

• Email: licences@esc.vic.gov.au
• Mail: Essential Services Commission, Level 8, 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne Victoria 3000

Submissions close 5pm 27 January 2026

Overview

In December 2024, the Essential Services Commission (the commission) directed 1st Energy Pty Ltd (1st Energy), AGL Sales Pty Ltd (AGL), Alinta Energy Retail Sales Pty Ltd (Alinta Energy) and Pacific Blue Retail Pty Ltd (Pacific Blue) to nominate an independent reviewer to conduct a compliance review (review) for the commission’s approval.

This review was part of our proactive compliance program aimed at identifying potential or actual non-compliance with Victoria’s Payment Difficulty Framework.

Review scope

The scope of the review required each retailer to demonstrate, with supporting evidence, that between 1 July 2023 and 30 September 2024, they adhered to the rules to assist customers anticipating or experiencing payment difficulty. This included:

• having effective processes in place to proactively identify customers experiencing payment difficulty
• offering tailored assistance and payment plans
• providing clear information about available support options

The review focused on each retailer's compliance with specific obligations under Part 6 of the commission’s Energy Retail Code of Practice. The objective of Part 6 is to set minimum standards of assistance to which residential customers anticipating or facing payment difficulties are entitled, so that disconnection of a residential customer for not paying a bill is a measure of last resort.

The scope also included:

• clauses 153 (family violence as a potential cause of payment difficulty), 185 (disconnection warning notices) and 187 (residential customer only to be disconnected as a last resort for non-payment) of the Energy Retail Code of Practice
• the Compliance and Performance Reporting Guideline (version 8) requirement that retailers must report potential or actual breaches of relevant provisions to the commission

As outlined below, the recommendations and findings reflect each independent reviewer and their individual reports. These findings do not represent the views of the commission.

Broad improvement opportunities

The below table summarises broad and general improvement opportunities that the independent reviewers identified from the reviews. These findings do not reflect the results of all the retailers that undertook the compliance review.

Independent reviewer findings

The respective independent reviewers found that 1st Energy, AGL and Alinta Energy had compliant processes and systems with the obligations specified within the scope of the review outlined in the Terms of Reference.

1st Energy

There was one improvement area identified for 1st Energy to implement (that was not a regulatory compliance issue). 1st Energy updated its document controls by improving version and numbering process, and improved document control approval and instruction processes.

AGL

AGL’s independent reviewer did not identify any instances of non-compliance or improvement opportunities.

Alinta Energy

Alinta Energy implemented the following improvements:

• enhancing and updating work instructions for staff interacting with customers anticipating or experiencing payment difficulty
• removing an erroneous eligibility criterion to access tailored assistance when customers had arrears less than $55 (including GST) which was not used in practice
• providing refresher training to staff on minimum assistance and disconnection notices

It also identified the following better practice areas for potential improvement (that are not regulatory compliance issues):

• implementing telephony upgrades for better call analytics capabilities
• upgrading systems to identify instances where customers are not provided with minimum assistance

Pacific Blue

Pacific Blue’s independent reviewer identified multiple instances of non-compliance including:

• reminder notices were not issued within the required 21 business days
• reminder notices were not put on hold for a customer when they should have been
• reminder notice content was insufficient (prior to January 2024 when updates were made)
• previous self-reported breaches occurred when Pacific Blue staff did not document payment plan assessments
• customers were only contacted about payment difficulty assistance through reminder notices and no other contact methods were attempted
• best endeavours were not used to provide payment difficulty assistance to customers with arrears
• disconnection checklist was not retained by Pacific Blue after raising disconnection service orders

Remediation of compliance issues

Following independent reviewers’ reports, 1st Energy and Pacific Blue submitted remediation plans to the commission based on each’s respective independent reviewers’ findings.

AGL did not submit a remediation plan as its independent reviewer did not find instances of non-compliance. Alinta Energy had implemented all of the independent reviewer’s compliance-related findings by the conclusion of the compliance review, so a remediation plan was not required.

Next steps

We will maintain oversight of retailers' adherence to their payment difficulty obligations under the Terms of Reference. We will also monitor 1st Energy’s and Pacific Blue’s implementation of their remediation plans and any breaches of Victoria’s energy laws in accordance with our compliance and enforcement priorities and compliance and enforcement policy. We will consider our compliance and enforcement tools with relevant retailers who do not adhere to their remediation plans (where applicable) or report breaches to the commission.

On 29 September 2025, Ampol Energy (Retail) Pty Ltd (ACN 652 913 347) applied to have its electricity retail licence transferred to Ampol Energy (Wholesale Trading) Pty Ltd (ACN 660 016 062) under section 31 of the Electricity Industry Act 2000 (Vic).

Consultation on the transfer application closed on 13 October 2025.  We received no submissions.  We approved the transfer on 26 November 2025.

You can read more about the transfer application (including the Licence and Record of Decision) by clicking this link.

The licence was last varied on 18 September 2025.

On 3 September 2025, SUPA Energy Pty Limited (ACN 657 976 086) applied for a licence to sell electricity under section 18 of the Electricity Industry Act 2000 (Vic) and a licence to sell gas under section 25 of the Gas Industry Act 2001 (Vic).  

Consultation on the licence applications closed on 13 October 2025. We received seven non-confidential submissions. You can read the submissions we received and SUPA Energy Pty Limited's response in the Resources tab above.

We granted the licences on 3 December 2025.