Origin Energy Plans & Prices — Compare & Save

⚖️ AER instituted Federal Court proceedings against four Origin Energy subsidiaries for alleged Centrepay overcharging. Origin allegedly continued receiving payments from Centrepay customers who had closed accounts, affecting 3,400+ customers with 77,000+ breaches and retaining more than $2.5 million. Origin allegedly knew its systems were processing payments this way as early as 2017. Proceedings ongoing; AER seeking pecuniary penalties, declarations, customer remediation, and compliance program orders.

⚖️ Origin Energy Retail Limited: In the same proceedings, the Supreme Court of Victoria made declarations that Origin Energy Retail Limited (which supplies gas to customers in Mildura) contravened disconnection and payment support rules, with conduct preceding changes to the Essential Services Commission Act 2001 in December 2021. The Court also declared older breaches: failing to provide adequate support to more than 34,000 customers experiencing payment difficulty, wrongfully disconnecting 295 customers, recovering undercharged amounts from an additional 1,557 customers beyond prescribed backbilling limits, failing to provide adequate best offer messages to an additional 2,616 customers, and giving 73 customers less than the required 13 days to pay. (Essential Services Commission v Origin Energy Electricity Limited & Ors [2025] VSC 130, 21 March 2025.)

⚖️ Origin Energy Electricity Limited and Origin Energy (Vic) Pty Limited: Supreme Court of Victoria ordered penalties totalling $17,605,000 — the largest financial penalty for breaches of Victoria's energy rules in the state's history — for contravening life support, payment difficulty, billing and disconnection rules. Breaches between December 2021 and May 2023 affected 668,750 customers: inadequate best offer messaging to more than 655,000 customers, inadequate support to 6,806 customers experiencing payment difficulty, overcharging 78 customers, recovering undercharged amounts from 411 customers beyond the four-month backbilling limit, and failing to adequately record, update or maintain information for 10 customers on the Life Support Register. Court also ordered adverse publicity orders, a quality assurance system, a compliance education and training program, and costs. (Essential Services Commission v Origin Energy Electricity Limited & Ors [2025] VSC 130, 21 March 2025.)

Penalty: $17.61 million

⚖️ Origin Energy Electricity Limited, Origin Energy Retail Limited and Origin Energy LPG Limited: Federal Court ordered penalties totalling $12 million for breaches of life support obligations under the National Energy Retail Rules — 5,000+ breaches (failing to register life support customers, notify distributors, provide information packs, and improper deregistrations, some leading to disconnection) affecting almost 5,000 customers in QLD, NSW, SA and ACT (conduct 1 February 2019 to 12 September 2022). Some customers were unregistered for up to 188 days; some were disconnected and without power for up to 66 days. Origin also gave a court enforceable undertaking admitting 1,973 further breaches of the information pack obligation plus a $1 million community contribution; $175,000 towards AER costs. Orders made 18 December 2024.

Penalty: $12.00 million

⚖️ Origin Energy Electricity Limited and other Origin entities: Federal Court ordered penalties totalling $17 million — the largest ever imposed for breaches of the National Energy Retail Law and Rules — for failing to comply with obligations to protect customers experiencing hardship and payment difficulties. Origin admitted breaching hardship obligations on more than 100,000 occasions between January 2018 and October 2021, affecting more than 90,000 customers in NSW, ACT, QLD and SA (automated payment plan processes that failed to consider customers' capacity to pay). Court also ordered $200,000 in legal costs and a compliance and training program. (AER v Origin Energy Electricity Ltd & Ors [2022] FCA 802; AER news release NR 48/22, 29 June 2022.)

Penalty: $17.00 million