There are some changes being introduced to the National Energy Retail Rules that are coming into effect from 1 July 2026. These changes apply to our small customers in NSW, QLD, SA and the ACT and are designed to provide more certainty and fairness to energy plans. You don’t have to do anything; the changes will take effect automatically where applicable.
So, what’s changing?
No surprises with prices
Under the new rules, your retailer can’t increase your market offer tariffs or charges, or decrease your solar feed-in tariff, more than once every 12 months. Price changes will only happen in July (for most customers) and you will receive notice beforehand, giving you 12 months of price certainty every year.
The other plus is price and tariff decreases can still happen at any time.
No rude shock when a benefit period ends
If a benefit period applies to your plan (like an introductory rate) and it changes or expires, retailers won’t charge you more than the standing offer prices - which is a bonus if you tend to set and forget your energy. For customers on contracts where the benefits do not last the length of the contract, they will receive benefits without exemptions for specific plans or incentives.
Fewer fees
We know no one likes fees. We keep our fees to a reasonable estimate of our actual costs.
To save customers on fees, retailers will provide at least one commonly used payment method that's free to use, like direct debit or BPAY.
Other than network charges, retailers will NOT charge fees to hardship customers, residential customers experiencing payment difficulty, and customers experiencing family violence.
And we won’t charge account set-up, de-energisation, re-energisation or special metering fees unless they’re charged by the network.
Protection for customers in-between contracts
This one only comes up on the odd occasion. When customers continue to use energy after their previous contract has ended, but before they enter a new contract with a retailer, they won’t be disconnected (as long as they continue pay their bills). This is no change to what we do currently.
A simpler approach to conditional discounts
If a conditional discount applies to your plan (i.e. such as a discount for paying on time), any unreasonable conditions will be removed. This means you'll receive the discount in full without needing to meet those conditions. For customers with high fees linked to payment conditions will have their fees reduced to reasonable levels. We no longer offer plans with conditional discounts, so this change won’t affect most of our customers.
Standing offer terms are changing
If you're on a standing offer (also known as a standard retail contract), some of your terms are changing. It affects when we tell you about updates to your tariffs or charges. Previously, if changes were due to updates from your distributor, we could let you know after the change had already taken effect. We'd always tell you as soon as practical, but not later than your next bill. From 1 July 2026, this will also apply when your tariffs or charges decrease.
These changes aim to make energy fair and simple for everyone. And remember you can always check in on your energy plans or make an enquiry in MyAccount.