Need to know
- Our recent national survey shows that 84% of households have serious concerns about the cost of power
- An Energy Consumers Australia report reveals that one in five Australian households are either experiencing energy hardship or are on the brink
- Energy retailers are required to help those in hardship by providing reasonable payment plans, but many, like Engie Energy, are shirking this duty
Having the power cut off because you can't pay the bill is a belittling experience that stays with you, especially when families and children are affected.
In Victoria, 7669 electricity and 3474 gas customers were disconnected in 2023–24 because the money simply wasn't there. In some cases, the wheels fell off after customers had tried to keep their finances afloat through overlapping buy now, pay later or pay day loan accounts.
The national average disconnection rate for energy retailers in the ACT, NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania (where retailers operate under the Australian Energy Regulator's National Energy Retail Law) is 0.23% of customers, which may not sound like a lot.
But that small fraction amounts to around 15,859 electricity customers being disconnected in 2023–24.
Complaints about billing increased around 24% in 2023–24 compared to the previous 12 months
Falling behind on an energy bill can happen to anyone. Our most recent national survey research shows that 84% of households have serious concerns about the cost of power, and a record number (68%) are struggling to bring this cost down.
A recent report from the advocacy group Energy Consumers Australia revealed that one in five Australian households are either experiencing energy hardship or are on the brink of it.
Meanwhile, complaints to retailers overseen by the AER about billing (by far the most common type of complaint) increased around 24% in 2023–24 compared to the previous 12 months, totalling around 75,900 complaints.
Falling short on hardship obligations
Throughout most of Australia, there's a safety net for people facing the loss of this most essential of services.
In states and territories under the jurisdiction of the AER, energy retailers are required to assist customers in financial difficulty through hardship programs that stretch out payback timeframes. Victoria's Payment Difficulty Framework works much the same way.
In 2023–24, the average energy debt of customers in hardship programs in states regulated by the AER was around $1700 – an indicator of just how close to the line these households are living. As of 30 June 2024, 88,441 customers in AER-regulated states had fallen into energy debt and were not on hardship programs.
Our national survey shows that 84% of households have serious concerns about powers costs.
And there was a 17% rise in 2023–24 in the number of customers with debts that were greater than $2500, and a 41% increase in debts of this size that were between 12 and 24 months old.
Energy retailers are required to help these people, but they don't always follow the rules. Some flagrantly fail. In the 2025 Rank the Energy Retailer report produced by Financial Counselling Victoria (FCVic) and Financial Counselling Australia (FCA), for instance, Engie Energy was ranked dead last by financial counsellors among 18 energy retailers for its handling of hardship cases.
Financial counsellors consistently see the human cost when energy retailers fail to support people in hardship
Financial Counselling Victoria CEO Zyl Hovenga-Wauchope
In one case, a customer's bills went unpaid because they were sent to the wrong address, leaving her unaware of the mounting debt until Engie threatened disconnection.
"Despite the Ombudsman finding Engie at fault and reducing the debt, the customer endured months of confusion, aggressive calls, and poor information before the financial counsellor secured fair payment arrangements," says FCVic CEO Zyl Hovenga-Wauchope.
He says financial counsellors on the front lines see what energy retailers choose to ignore.
"We know that people should be offered fair and sustainable payment plans that help them to navigate an active path out of financial hardship. Instead, they are left to fall further behind, and they accumulate unmanageable debt," Hovenga-Wauchope says.
"The lack of meaningful assistance leaves households in crisis with nowhere to turn. Financial counsellors consistently see the human cost when energy retailers fail to support people in hardship."
As of June 2024, Engie had the fourth-highest percentage of electricity customers disconnected (0.34%) among retailers monitored by the AER, after Dodo (0.85%), AGL (0.45%) and Alinta (0.42%). In Engie's case, around 477 electricity customers were cut off in 2023–24. (The numbers for Dodo, AGL and Alinta were around 630, 6791 and 1325, respectively.)
Other retailers fined for hardship failures
Though Engie is notable for being ranked last by the financial counsellors who've tried to help its customers, other retailers have similarly poor track records.
In 2024–25, the AER slapped both Dodo and Red Energy with stiff fines ($406,800 and $474,600) for shirking their hardship and payment plan obligations.
Making sure customers in hardship are granted payment plans by their retailers – and that hardship policies in general are robust and effective – is a current priority for the AER. One point of concern is customers feeling pressured into agreeing to payment plans they can't reasonably adhere to for fear of having their power cut off.
"Customers experiencing payment difficulties due to hardship are entitled to a payment plan that holistically considers their individual circumstances and their capacity to pay," the AER said in a letter to retailers following the enforcement action.
Engie making 'meaningful improvements'
An Engie spokesperson told us the retailer has made "meaningful improvements to make it easier for customers experiencing financial hardship to contact us and have recommitted to the highest duty of care in supporting them. If any Engie customer is having trouble paying their energy bills, they should contact us as early as possible so we can help."
The AER spokesperson says the regulator has called for the National Energy Retail Rules "to require information about assistance to be more generally available so that all customers can readily access, understand and act on this support from their retailer".
This would include customers who are no longer with a retailer still having access to debt repayment plans and retailers having clear policies about what happens when there's a missed payment.
The AER is currently reviewing the Customer Hardship Policy Guideline, which is expected to be finalised in the second half of 2026. After this, all retailers will be required to submit their hardship policies to the AER for approval.
...these protections are often the only thing standing between households and significant financial hardship across all aspects of their lives
Financial Counselling Victoria CEO Zyl Hovenga-Wauchope
According to their spokesperson, one of the issues the AER has flagged so far is "the difficulty for customers in finding and engaging with hardship policies and inconsistencies in the type and quality of information and assistance provided by different retailers."
FCVic CEO Zyl Hovenga-Wauchope confirms that Engie now appears committed to improving outcomes for hardship customers and says the industry as a whole must follow suit.
"With energy bills rising and affordability worsening for many Australians, these protections are often the only thing standing between households and significant financial hardship across all aspects of their lives."
He adds that strengthening and expanding hardship programs "is critical to ensure no one is left in the dark when they are doing it tough".
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