EnergyAustralia has admitted it broke the law on electricity pricing. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced on 3 August that the retailer had breached the Electricity Retail Code by failing to make its Solar Sharer offer, three hours of free daytime power, available from the required start date of 1 July 2026. EnergyAustralia did not switch the plan on for customers until 3 August, a 33 day delay.
What went wrong
The Solar Sharer offer is a new requirement under the Electricity Retail Code for retailers serving eligible households with smart meters in New South Wales, South Australia and South East Queensland. EnergyAustralia told the ACCC on 23 June that it would miss the deadline because of problems with its billing and metering systems. The ACCC has now accepted a court enforceable undertaking in which EnergyAustralia admits the breach. ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said the delay initially denied consumers the chance to access the plan and its savings, and that as one of the country's largest energy retailers, EnergyAustralia was expected to have better systems and processes in place to meet its legal obligations.
What the Solar Sharer offer actually gives you
- Three hours of free electricity every day: 11am to 2pm in NSW and South East Queensland, 12pm to 3pm in South Australia
- Up to 24 kilowatt hours of free usage within that window each day
- Available to eligible households with a smart meter, whether they have rooftop solar or not
- Delivered as an opt in plan through your retailer, not a rebate or a cash payment
- Best suited to households, battery owners and EV owners who can shift heavy usage into the middle of the day, since other time bands may carry higher rates
What EnergyAustralia has to do now
Under the undertaking, EnergyAustralia must keep offering the Solar Sharer plan, report on its compliance to both the ACCC and the Australian Energy Regulator, train staff to handle customer questions about the offer, and publish a public notice on its website admitting the breach. EnergyAustralia has fallen foul of the same code before: in September 2024 the Federal Court ordered it to pay 14 million dollars in penalties for breaching the Electricity Retail Code and the Australian Consumer Law.
The WattsUp take
The Solar Sharer offer is one of the more genuinely useful things to land on Australian power bills this year, free power in the sunniest part of the day, but it only works if retailers actually switch it on and tell people about it. A 33 day delay from one of the country's biggest retailers, on a plan mandated by regulation rather than left to goodwill, is exactly why the rule needed teeth. If you are in NSW, South East Queensland or SA and have a smart meter, it is worth asking your retailer directly whether a Solar Sharer plan is available and running the numbers against your usual usage pattern.