New Standards for Electricity Bills in Victoria

New Standards for Electricity Bills in Victoria

What’s New With Electricity Bills in Victoria?

The Essential Services Commission (ESC) in Victoria is making changes to electricity bills in Victoria from July 2019.

The new disclosure guidelines will be introduced in a bid to provide more clarity and fairness to energy customers in Victoria. Along with the removal of ‘standing offers’, this is another step to improve energy market.

    • Best Offer information: Retailers must now tell customers if they are on the best plan for their usage. Electricity bills must now display advice on whether there is a better offer for customers. The advice must appear quarterly for electricity bills in Victoria and every 4 months for electricity bills.
    • Warning of bill changes: Retailers must now notify customers at least 5 days before any pricing or benefit changes that affect them. Likewise, the notice must also include ‘best offer’ information if there is a cheaper deal available.
    • GST Inclusive Pricing: Pricing will now be shown inclusive of GST.

Why are Electricity Bills in Victoria Changing?

The Independent Bipartisan Review of Electricity and Gas Retail Markets is driving these changes. The Government responded with several recommendations in the areas of electricity bills in Victoria and marketing, competitiveness and fair contracts.

The benefits promised by the industry deregulation have not been realised, according to the review. It suggested the range of different contracts causes confusion for customers. In general, there is a lack of clarity around contracts, offers and bills.

The removal of ‘standing offers’ and implementation of the Victorian Default Offer will also come into effect on 1 July 2019. This aims to make energy cheaper for 167,000 customers currently on ‘standing offers’ rather than ‘market offers’.

How Else Can You Get Cheap Energy Deals in Victoria?

If anybody knows how confusing energy contracts can be, it’s Billy Explores. That’s why we offer a comparison service for better deals from our panel of providers so that you don’t have to. The Government’s changes to electricity bills in Victoria are a great help, but Billy can do even more. If you want to see if you potentially can save even more money, through Billy you may find an even better deal!

See if you can save today!

Join thousands of others who have switched and saved with Billy Explores