{"id":92134,"date":"2025-05-20T06:09:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T20:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=92134"},"modified":"2025-05-23T04:59:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T19:29:32","slug":"energy-loyalty-victoria-mb3184","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/energy-loyalty-victoria-mb3184\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy Bills: ‘Loyalty Tax’ Targeted In Victoria"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Energy<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 better deals.<\/p>\n

In a report published late last year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) estimated more than 80% of National Electricity Market1<\/a><\/sup> (NEM) households are paying more for electricity than they need to<\/a>, and the loyalty penalty increases with the age of the offer households are on.<\/p>\n

This is occurring even though guidelines have been in place across the NEM for some time requiring retailers to include a ‘better offer’ or ‘best offer’ message on the first page of a bill at least every 100 days, based on a customer\u2019s annual usage. There may also be flags in online account interfaces. (Added 23 May:<\/strong> This ‘best offer’ messaging is proving problematic<\/a>. )<\/p>\n

As part of its Energy Retail Code of Practice review, the ESC is proposing a new rule it hopes will help end the ‘loyalty tax’. Energy retailers would be required to move customers that have been on the same plan for 4 years onto a more reasonable rate if one is available.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know there are barriers that stop people shopping around in the complex energy market, but we don\u2019t want those barriers to result in Victorians paying unnecessarily or unreasonably high rates,” said<\/a> Essential Services Commission Chairperson and Commissioner Gerard Brody.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

‘Reasonable Price’ Rule<\/h2>\n

Under the proposed rule, a retailer must review the tariffs of a small customer on an older retail contract at least annually. If the retailer identifies the customer is not being charged a reasonable price, it must within 30 days of identification reduce the tariffs or switch the customer to a cheaper plan; and without penalties.<\/p>\n

‘Reasonable price’ could be open to interpretation and the ACCC has this somewhat covered, defining it as a price that is the same or below the price of the Victorian Default Offer (VDO). The VDO is what households and small business customers in the state pay for electricity if they haven\u2019t chosen a market offer. While market offers are often less expensive than the VDO, it is meant to act as a safety net.<\/p>\n

Perhaps 4 years is too long. The ACCC indicated households on plans over a year old are paying, on average across the NEM, $238 more per year than households on newer offers.<\/p>\n

Still, it would be some progress.<\/p>\n

Financial Hardship And Other Changes<\/h2>\n

Among other changes proposed by the ESC are ensuring customers experiencing financial hardship are shifted onto a retailer’s cheapest plan. This includes customers being assisted under the Payment Difficulty Framework, or those in arrears for at least three months and owing more than $1,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf an energy retailer is supporting someone in financial hardship, moving them onto the cheapest plan is a simple, considerate step they can take to help the customer,” said Brody. “It\u2019s contradictory to be helping someone in hardship while also charging them unnecessarily high rates.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Furthermore, the changes would require retailers to make it easier for customers to move to their cheapest plan, prohibit them requiring payment methods such as direct debit or e-billing for accessing a particular energy plan, and increase the minimum debt a customer can be disconnected for from $300 to $500.<\/p>\n

The Commission estimates all its proposed rules would have saved affected customers an average of around $225 on electricity and $182 on their gas each year \u2014 so it’s significant, particularly for those who are battling.<\/p>\n

The ESC is encouraging feedback on its proposed changes until 26 June 2025, which can be submitted through Engage Victoria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When Was The Last Time You Compared Electricity Plans?<\/h2>\n

Life can get hectic, but staying on top of electricity plan pricing doesn’t have to be particularly time-consuming \u2014 and it could be time very well-spent.<\/p>\n

While designed with solar households in mind, SolarQuotes’ electricity plan comparison tool<\/a> should be useful to households without solar panels too; and it’s regularly updated. And although SolarQuotes is owned by Origin Energy, we remain an independent business unit \u2014 the tool doesn’t favour Origin\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

TIP:<\/b> Solar owners are usually better off with simple, fixed rate electricity plans, while solar + battery owners will often find a time-of-use tariff featuring lower off-peak and shoulder rates the best option.<\/p>\n

PS:<\/b> For households with gas, learn how much you could save by getting off gas and electrifying your home<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":92136,"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-92134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solar-battery-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEnergy Bills: 'Loyalty Tax' Targeted In Victoria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New proposed rules would compel Victorian energy retailers to 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For the purposes of the ACCC's report, only South-East Queensland is included.], New South Wales (and ACT), Victoria, Tasmania and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Australian electricity bills and the loyalty tax","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/electricity-bill-cost.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/electricity-bill-cost.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/electricity-bill-cost.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/electricity-bill-cost.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/electricity-bill-cost.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97262,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/electricity-loyalty-penalty-mb3359\/","url_meta":{"origin":92134,"position":1},"title":"Electricity Customer ‘Loyalty Penalty’ Alive And Well In 2026","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"January 16, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has again warned that millions of Australian households aren't on the cheapest electricity plan; many effectively being slugged with a \"loyalty penalty\" by their current retailer. And the financial hit is significant. What's The Impact Of\u00a0 Electricity Loyalty Penalties? A couple of days\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electricity Prices"","block_context":{"text":"Electricity Prices","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/electricity-prices\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Australian electricity bill","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/electricity-bill-loyalty-penalty.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/electricity-bill-loyalty-penalty.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/electricity-bill-loyalty-penalty.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/electricity-bill-loyalty-penalty.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/electricity-bill-loyalty-penalty.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":92674,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/dmo-electricity-offers-mb3207\/","url_meta":{"origin":92134,"position":2},"title":"Energy Minister Signals Electricity Offer Shake-Up","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"June 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A mechanism ensuring electricity retailers can't charge some customers as much as they otherwise may isn't working as intended says Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen. The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) currently sets the Default Market Offer (DMO) in New South Wales, southeast Queensland and South Australia;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/electricity-prices-dmo-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/electricity-prices-dmo-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/electricity-prices-dmo-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/electricity-prices-dmo-2.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/electricity-prices-dmo-2.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":90392,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/electricity-standing-offers-mb3137\/","url_meta":{"origin":92134,"position":3},"title":"More Power Price Pain Ahead For Many Australians","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"March 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Draft determinations for default electricity offer pricing for 2025\/26 have been announced for South East Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria for 2025\/26. Here's what's on the cards. The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) yesterday announced its draft determination for the Default Market Offer (DMO) covering NSW, SEQ and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Electricity pricing in Australia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/electricity-prices-australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/electricity-prices-australia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/electricity-prices-australia.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/electricity-prices-australia.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/electricity-prices-australia.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21527,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/electricity-discounts-gouging-mb0587\/","url_meta":{"origin":92134,"position":4},"title":"Crackdown On Dodgy Electricity Bill Discounts","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"May 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Energy retailers will soon be prohibited from offering pseudo-discounts and a new investigation will determine whether Australian energy consumers are being gouged by networks in relation to corporate tax liabilities. In November last year, we mentioned big electricity discounts may not add up - in some cases consumers can find\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dodgy electricity bill discounts","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/electricity-discounts.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/electricity-discounts.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/electricity-discounts.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/electricity-discounts.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24172,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/victoria-retail-energy-rules-mb0737\/","url_meta":{"origin":92134,"position":5},"title":"Proposed Energy Rule Changes In Victoria “To Build Trust”","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"September 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Victoria's Essential Services Commission has outlined proposed changes to the state's energy rules that would see retailers required to tell customers about their best offers. The ESC's draft decision is the outcome of key recommendations of last year's independent review of the Victorian retail energy market. \u201cThere is now overwhelming\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Victoria electricity costs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/electricity-cost-victoria.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/electricity-cost-victoria.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/electricity-cost-victoria.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/electricity-cost-victoria.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92134","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=92134"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92227,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92134\/revisions\/92227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}