We no longer set a minimum feed-in tariff

The Essential Services Commission no longer sets minimum feed-in tariffs, following an amendment to the Electricity Industry Act 2000. The 2024-25 minimum feed-in tariffs applied until 30 June 2025, but there will be no minimum feed-in tariffs from 1 July 2025.

From 1 July, electricity retailers may set their own feed-in tariffs. However, these cannot be below zero ($0.00) cents per kWh. More information is available from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Change.

We decided on tariffs that would apply in 2025-26

Before the May 2025 amendment, we completed a review of the minimum feed-in tariffs for 2025–26. These minimum feed-in tariffs will not apply.

Please go to the Minimum feed-in tariff review 2025–26 page for information on our final decision.

Installing solar panels and batteries

Solar customers benefit by avoiding retail tariffs. They do this by using the electricity their systems generate. 

The Victorian Government provides assistance for customers to install solar panels. More information is available in the Solar Victoria website.

The Federal Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program also starts from 1 July 2025. More information is available on the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water's website.

We maintain an oversight role to ensure that electricity retailers’ terms and conditions are fair and reasonable. 

This code of practice sets out the rules electricity and gas retailers must follow when selling energy to Victorian customers. 

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.

Related guidelines and guidance can be found on the 'Energy guidelines' webpage.

‘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.

We sought and obtained assurances that EnergyAustralia was taking effective action to rectify breaches that were still continuing, and had successfully completed remedial action for others.

EnergyAustralia continued to report to us on its progress towards full compliance.

We consider the undertaking discharged (finalised).