{"id":24172,"date":"2018-09-10T07:59:39","date_gmt":"2018-09-09T21:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=24172"},"modified":"2018-09-10T07:59:39","modified_gmt":"2018-09-09T21:29:39","slug":"victoria-retail-energy-rules-mb0737","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/victoria-retail-energy-rules-mb0737\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Energy Rule Changes In Victoria &#8220;To Build Trust&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_24173\" style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24173\" class=\"size-full wp-image-24173\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/electricity-cost-victoria.jpg\" alt=\"Victoria electricity costs\" width=\"800\" height=\"518\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/electricity-cost-victoria.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/electricity-cost-victoria-300x194.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/electricity-cost-victoria-768x497.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-24173\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/nickhubbard\/19002559121\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NickHubbard<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>Victoria&#8217;s Essential Services Commission has outlined proposed changes to the state&#8217;s energy rules that would see retailers required to tell customers about their best offers.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The ESC&#8217;s draft decision is the outcome of key recommendations of last year&#8217;s independent review of the Victorian retail energy market.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThere is now overwhelming evidence that the retail energy market is not delivering good outcomes for customers,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esc.vic.gov.au\/media-centre\/energy-retailers-must-rebuild-community-trust\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> said<\/a> ESC Chairperson Ron Ben-David. \u201cOur draft decision isn\u2019t just about providing more information to customers, in reality we\u2019re making retailers take responsibility for what happens to their customers.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Key proposals would require gas and electricity retailers to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>communicate a \u2018best offer\u2019 to each customers at least twice a year via their gas\/electricity bill &#8211; and how to access it.<\/li>\n<li>provide advance notice of any changes to a customer&#8217;s prices, discounts or benefits<\/li>\n<li>honour a new customer entitlement to provide clear advice to help the customer find the gas\/electricity plan that suits them best<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Among the data used to determine the &#8220;best offer&#8221; mentioned above would be both consumption and export data. This is important to owners of solar power systems.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;In this way, the best offer determination accounts for both the cost to the customer of the energy consumed, and any revenue received from the feed-in tariffs associated with the offers being compared,&#8221; states the ESC.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Forcing Energy Retailers To &#8220;Come Clean&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>Retailers will also be required to be upfront with customers about any gotchas contained in energy contracts that could result in a customer paying more than they expect.<\/p>\n<p>Last year&#8217;s independent review of the Victorian retail energy market was commissioned by the Andrews Labor Government as part of its efforts to drive down energy prices.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;These changes will force retailers to come clean with consumers who are paying too much for energy,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.premier.vic.gov.au\/victoria-forces-retailers-to-come-clean-with-consumers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D\u2019Ambrosio<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The ESC&#8217;s draft decision document can be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esc.vic.gov.au\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/ESC%20draft%20decision%20-%20Building%20trust%20through%20new%20customer%20entitlements%20in%20the%20retail%20energy%20market.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">downloaded here<\/a> (PDF). The Commission is inviting feedback on the proposed changes to the energy rules, which can be submitted until Friday, 5 October 2018. The final decision is expected in October, with 1 July 2019 being the proposed commencement date for code amendments.<\/p>\n<p>Solar households in Victoria on the hunt for new electricity plan can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/energy\/\">compare electricity deals here<\/a> on SolarQuotes. Just bear in mind the plan with the highest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/systems\/feed-in-tariffs\/vic\/\">feed in tariff<\/a> isn&#8217;t always the best &#8211; check for devil in the detail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Victoria&#8217;s Essential Services Commission has outlined proposed changes to the state&#8217;s energy rules that would see retailers required to tell customers about their best offers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":24173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[678],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solar-battery-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Proposed Energy Rule Changes In Victoria &quot;To Build Trust&quot;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Victoria&#039;s ESC has proposed changes to the state&#039;s energy rules that would see retailers required to tell customers about their best offers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/victoria-retail-energy-rules-mb0737\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Proposed Energy Rule Changes In Victoria &quot;To Build Trust&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Victoria&#039;s ESC has proposed changes to the state&#039;s energy rules that would see retailers required to tell customers about their best offers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/victoria-retail-energy-rules-mb0737\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-09T21:29:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/electricity-cost-victoria.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"518\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Bloch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/victoria-retail-energy-rules-mb0737\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/victoria-retail-energy-rules-mb0737\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Bloch\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66afd571aa00c2e442f0192ebac2f6f1\"},\"headline\":\"Proposed Energy Rule Changes In Victoria &#8220;To Build Trust&#8221;\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-09T21:29:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/victoria-retail-energy-rules-mb0737\/\"},\"wordCount\":427,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/victoria-retail-energy-rules-mb0737\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/electricity-cost-victoria.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"General Solar &amp; 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Yesterday morning, the Australian Energy Regulator and the Victorian Essential Services Commission announced their draft decisions for the Default Market Offer (DMO) and Victorian Default Offer (VDO)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Electricity price increases: Australia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vdo-dmo-electricity.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vdo-dmo-electricity.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vdo-dmo-electricity.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vdo-dmo-electricity.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/vdo-dmo-electricity.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":72556,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/regional-qld-solar-tariff-mb2865\/","url_meta":{"origin":24172,"position":1},"title":"Regional Queensland Solar Owners Rejoice","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"March 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"There was some good news for solar owners in regional Queensland last week - another proposed big boost to the feed-in tariff rate. But don't get too excited just yet. First, The Bad News On Wednesday, the Queensland Competition Authority delivered a shock to residential and small business electricity customers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Regional Queensland solar feed-in tariff","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/regional-qld-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/regional-qld-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/regional-qld-solar.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/regional-qld-solar.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/regional-qld-solar.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":92134,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/energy-loyalty-victoria-mb3184\/","url_meta":{"origin":24172,"position":2},"title":"Energy Bills: &#8216;Loyalty Tax&#8217; Targeted In Victoria","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"May 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Victoria's Essential Services Commission (ESC) has proposed new rules that would compel the state's energy retailers to shift some customers onto cheaper electricity and gas plans. An 'energy loyalty tax' isn't really a tax, but refers to higher prices retailers may charge long-term customers compared to new customers who get\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Energy bill with loyalty tax","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/energy-loyalty-tax.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/energy-loyalty-tax.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/energy-loyalty-tax.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/energy-loyalty-tax.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/energy-loyalty-tax.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24755,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/ipart-nsw-energy-mb0770\/","url_meta":{"origin":24172,"position":3},"title":"IPART Weighs In On New South Wales Retail Energy Market","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"October 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"NSW's Independent Pricing & Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) says energy prices have stabilised in the state, but some households are still paying too much. In its annual review, IPART determined the average electricity bill for residential customers in July this year was $1,832 pa, up 0.2% since June 2018. Average gas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Electricity pricing in New South Wales","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/electricity-pricing-nsw.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/electricity-pricing-nsw.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/electricity-pricing-nsw.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/electricity-pricing-nsw.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":86246,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/smart-meters-protections-mb2991\/","url_meta":{"origin":24172,"position":4},"title":"Proposed Changes Seek To Stop Smart Meter Shenanigans","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"August 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Australian households getting a smart meter installed will have better protection from electricity retailers behaving badly under proposed changes from the AEMC. A smart meter measures electricity use (and exports in the case of solar homes) at regular intervals, sending this information to a household's electricity retailer for billing purposes.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Smart meters - Australian consumer protections","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/smart-meter-protection.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/smart-meter-protection.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/smart-meter-protection.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/smart-meter-protection.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/smart-meter-protection.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75225,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-electricity-price-hikes\/","url_meta":{"origin":24172,"position":5},"title":"AER Points to Solar PV as a Factor in Electricity Price Hikes","author":"Richard Chirgwin","date":"May 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Electricity prices in Queensland, NSW and South Australia will rise by as much as 23.9% in July, with the Australian Energy Regulator publishing its final Default Market Offer (DMO) determination for 2023-2024. Regional Variation in Electricity Price Rises How much of a rise you can expect depends on your distributor:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Electricity Prices&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Electricity Prices","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/electricity-prices\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"pylons in an Australian sunset","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/australian-pylons-sunset.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/australian-pylons-sunset.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/australian-pylons-sunset.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/australian-pylons-sunset.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/australian-pylons-sunset.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24172"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24175,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24172\/revisions\/24175"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}