As energy retail gets more complex, consumer protection faces a new test

Australian Energy Council and Energy Consumers Australia examine how affordability, market complexity, vulnerability and changing consumer protections are reshaping the relationship between energy retailers and their customers.As Australia’s retail energy market becomes more sophisticated, the challenge of protecting consumers is becoming more complicated too.

Households are increasingly being asked to navigate new technologies, energy services and pricing structures — while dealing with ongoing cost-of-living pressure.

Trust and complexity in a changing market

For Energy Consumers Australia (ECA) Executive Manager, Analysis & Advocacy Ashley Bradshaw, that complexity is already showing up in consumer sentiment.

“Our research continues to show that many Australians have limited trust in energy retailers. Less than half of residential energy consumers say they trust their retailer to do the right thing by customers and by Australia as a whole, while more than 40% do not believe they receive value for money from their provider,” Bradshaw told Energy Insights.

“At the same time, our national research shows many consumers continue to find the market difficult to navigate. Around one-third report that comparing energy plans is difficult.”

The findings point to a broader challenge for the sector. The energy transition is creating more opportunities for consumers to save, participate and provide flexibility to the grid, but it is also increasing the number and complexity of decisions households are expected to make.

Australian Energy Council CEO Louisa Kinnear said widening access to lower-cost energy options will be important as those choices expand.

“The greatest opportunity is to ensure all customers can access cheaper sources of electricity, including rooftop solar, regardless of whether they own their home,” Kinnear told Energy Insights.

“There is a lot of choice in the market, so giving customers the tools and information to identify the products that best suit their needs and find opportunities to save money will be increasingly important.”

From tariffs to energy services

The relationship between retailers and customers is also beginning to extend beyond the traditional model of simply supplying electricity.

Kinnear said retailers could increasingly bring together solar, batteries, EVs and home energy management while rewarding households for using energy.

“There is also an opportunity for retailers to reward customers for importing, storing and exporting energy in ways that support the grid, while delivering benefits to customers,” she said.

“This will create a more active relationship between customers and retailers as households take greater control of how they generate, store and use energy.”

Consumer protections are evolving alongside that shift.

On 28 August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission granted conditional authorisation for the amended New Energy Tech Consumer Code (NETCC) for five years. It also authorised the existing Code for a further three months to allow time for the transition.

The voluntary industry code sets minimum standards for signatories across areas including marketing, quoting, contracting, finance and payments, installation, warranties and complaints for products and services. These include solar systems, batteries, EV chargers and virtual power plants.

The ACCC imposed conditions requiring equal consumer and industry representation on the Code’s compliance panel and regular public reporting on its operation. The authorisation provides competition-law protection for businesses participating in the Code.

A shift towards consumer duty

Beyond specific protections for new energy technologies, attention is also turning to whether providers should carry a clearer overarching responsibility for consumer outcomes.

An energy consumer duty is among the reforms being explored as governments and market bodies reconsider protections for an increasingly complex retail market.

On this issue, the industry and consumer perspectives show some overlap.

Kinnear said the biggest practical change would be to make energy “easier for customers: easier to find the right product, easier to understand and easier to know how to save money”.

“That means moving away from highly prescriptive regulation that dictates what retailers can say to customers and how they must compare products, towards a more principles-based consumer duty,” she said.

“This would require retailers to look after their customers while giving them greater scope to develop innovative ways of doing so.”

Bradshaw also supports an overarching duty, but places greater emphasis on shifting responsibility away from households and onto providers.

“Improving outcomes requires a genuine focus on delivering better consumer outcomes throughout all parts of a retail business – not a narrow ‘tick-box’ focus aimed at only meeting minimum compliance standards,” he said.

Reaching households before hardship deepens

The stakes are particularly high for households already experiencing financial pressure.

Bradshaw said ECA research found around 20% of Australian households reported at least one indicator of energy hardship, while around 5-6% report at least two.

Those indicators include spending a large proportion of household income on energy bills, difficulty affording electricity bills, or reducing heating or cooling because of financial stress.

“Importantly, our research found that many households reporting indicators of energy hardship had not sought support from their retailer,” Bradshaw said.

“These findings suggest there is a need for both better targeted support and earlier intervention.”

That raises a wider question for retailers and regulators: how can consumers benefit from greater choice and new technologies without needing specialist knowledge to protect themselves from poor outcomes?

Australian Energy Council Chief Executive Louisa Kinnear and Energy Consumers Australia Executive Manager, Analysis & Advocacy Ashley Bradshaw are speaking at Quest Events’ Energy Retail Excellence 2026.