The rules, determinations and recalls that reach into your
home: what the gazetted documents and official registers actually say, kept on
the record with dates.
Victoria’s Energy Retail Code of Practice changed on 1 October: the minimum debt
for disconnection rose from $300 to $1,000, retailers must switch eligible customers in
payment difficulty to their best offer unless they opt out, the best offer threshold rose
from $22 to $50 a year, and every new plan must accept payment other than direct debit.
From 30 March 2027, in NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, the
minimum disconnection amount applies to all customers, retailers must try at least two
ways of reaching you before disconnection, and help must be spelt out on websites and
notices. A draft rule would bar retailers requiring documentary evidence of payment
difficulties or hardship and require plans they reasonably consider affordable;
submissions close 22 October.
Amending regulations in force from 8 August say retailers must make the Solar Sharer
Offer available to residential customers with a smart meter, with no proactive obligation
to offer it. Having it available and not switching you without your agreement now each
carry 300 penalty units, and the free-window charging rules moved into the code itself,
where the statement says enforcing them is the ACCC’s job.
Since 1 October, gas distributors covered by the AEMC’s abolishment rule must publish
what disconnection and abolishment involve and cost. The shared-cost abolishment price in
Victoria and NSW gives way to a charge covering the real cost at each network’s next
access arrangement: 2028 in Victoria, 2030 in NSW, 2031 in the ACT and South Australia.
On 11 September energy ministers endorsed the Consumer Energy National Technical
Regulatory Framework: a national technical code, certified products on a public list,
registered suppliers, accredited installers and a supplier switch-on gate. The regulator
is due mid-2027, subject to legislation, and nothing already installed is covered.
Feed-in tariff, STC, SRES, embedded network, demand side response and the battery
discount, each quoted from the authority that administers it rather than paraphrased. Start
with CER: it stands for two unrelated things in the same field.
AEMC writes the energy rules, the AER sets the Default Market Offer, AEMO runs the
system, and the Clean Energy Regulator pays the certificates behind rooftop solar and
batteries. Only the first three are energy market bodies, which is why your bill and your
rebate never feel like one system.
The Clean Energy Regulator is set to become the national technical regulator for
interoperable consumer energy resources. The aim: your solar inverter, battery, EV charger
and hot water work together and switch providers without brand lock-in. Subject to
legislation, aimed at new smart devices, and years from biting.
Customers on plans over three years old pay $221 a year more, the ACCC found. The
AEMC's draft same-price fix was dropped in its June final report for a disclosure rule;
nine consumer groups call it a missed opportunity, and the AEMC says a stronger rule
looked too much like price control.
From 1 July 2026 retailers in NSW, south east Queensland and SA must offer
an opt-in plan with three free hours of electricity in the middle of the day.
No solar panels required, and the regulator's own modelling shows it can also
produce a higher bill.
Five ACCC recalls now cover electrification hardware, from Tesla Powerwall 2
batteries to a 7 kW EV wall charger recalled on 29 June 2026. Model by model,
with each PRA number and what to do.
All-electric new homes from 1 January 2027, no like-for-like gas hot water replacement in existing homes from 1 March 2027 (with exceptions), and two things the regulations
deliberately do not touch: your cooktop, and your heater if you own your
home.
