Latest news with #energyretailers
CBC
08-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Retired city worker's credentials used in $2.5M Toronto electricity fraud attempt: report
Social Sharing The City of Toronto was nearly swindled out of $2.5 million as a result of an electricity fraud in 2019, in which a retired city employee's credentials were used to sign contracts with third-party energy retailers instead of with Toronto Hydro, the auditor general's office says. A report from the office released June 21 found that 14 city-owned properties were switched to two different third-party energy retailers without the city's knowledge. The city's Corporate Real Estate Management Division identified that the accounts had been switched in July 2019, after it found the "unusual" invoices during a routine account review, the report says. The contracts with the third-party retailers were valued at $4.2 million, which is $2.5 million higher than what the city would pay with Toronto Hydro, the report says. The report also says that $250,000 was paid to the two energy retailers between September 2019, when the contracts began, and January 2020, when they were cancelled. The money was later recovered by the city. "Given the serious nature of the allegations and the dollar values involved, the Auditor General's Office conducted an investigation to try to identify who entered the city into these contracts and whether any wrongdoing was committed by a city employee," said the auditor general's report. WATCH | Ontario has seen fraud reports skyrocket over the last decade: The Cost of Fraud in Ontario 2 years ago Duration 5:39 In part one of CBC Toronto's investigative series, The Cost of Fraud, reporter Angelina King explains Ontario's fraud problem. Over the last decade, the province has seen fraud reports skyrocket, with just a sliver of cases leading to criminal charges, and nearly half of those dropped each year. The auditor general's investigation began in 2020 and concluded in June 2025. Unclear if any city employees involved: report The investigation found that retired city employees' identifications were "fraudulently used to set up the contracts with the energy retailers," and that the alleged city employee did not sign the contracts. The auditor general said it was "unable to identify if a city employee was involved in this case." It also found that consulting firm owners seemed to have involvement in establishing the contracts with the retailers, but that could not be substantiated due to a lack of evidence. The report says the matter has been referred to Toronto police since one of the firm owners has been involved in other allegations in the past. In an email to CBC Toronto, Toronto police said they would not provide an interview and that their review is in progress. "The matter has been referred to us for review, and we're currently assessing whether it meets the threshold for a criminal investigation. That process is still underway," said Toronto police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer on Monday. Audit committee to look at investigation The auditor general is now asking the Toronto city council to request the city manager to forward the investigation report to other departments of the city to "encourage diligence in reviewing and approving invoices." The item will be considered by the audit committee on Friday, and if passed, it will be discussed during city council later this month. The chair of the city's audit committee, Coun. Stephen Holyday, said he hopes to see a change to prevent such situations in the future. "Any lessons that come out of this that can make for a stronger process means that we've got stronger security at the city for these types of issues in the future," Holyday said. He said he is "relieved" to know that there was no financial loss to the city. "It's a lot of money. Electricity is over $200 million a year, with many electrical accounts, and so ensuring that you've got people looking at this and the automated systems in place means that we have better protections for taxpayers at the end of the day," said Holyday. Jeff Filliter, a fraud investigator at Ontario-based investigation agency Haywood Hunt and former RCMP officer, said one way to avoid such problems is a "separation of duties." "One person is responsible for each factor in each step of the process along the way, and each of those steps is checked by the next person in line, and that would potentially have avoided all of this," Filliter said.
News.com.au
19-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
AEMC announces new rules in retail energy market, limits price hikes to once a year
Electricity retailers will be limited to hiking prices on consumers once a year in a major shake-up to the country's retail energy market. The Australian Energy Market Commission announced the changes on Thursday, entrenching a sweep of new rules designed to protect consumers from price shocks. Retailers are now limited to lifting prices once a year and must ensure customers who sign up to a plan with a temporary benefit do not roll over to one that is higher than the default price. Further, there is now a ban on what AMEC calls 'unreasonably high penalties' for not paying bills on time, and a ban on fees, except for network charges, for vulnerable customers. Providers must also limit fees charges to reasonable costs for all other consumers. AEMC chair Anna Collyer said the new rules, which follow from requests submitted by state energy ministers in August last year, marked a 'significant milestone in consumer protection'. 'These reforms will help ensure that Australian households can have she said. 'For the first time, we have formally applied our updated equity guidance across these rule changes, explicitly considering how contract terms, benefits and fees may disproportionately impact vulnerable consumers.' She said limiting energy price increases to once a year would help households 'predict' their energy costs and avoid unexpected price rises across the year. The AEMC also announced a draft proposal to improve the visibility of the 'better offer message' that appears on energy bills. The regulator claims as many as 40 per cent of customers do not always open their bills and so miss important messages about potential savings. The draft rule would require retailers to present better offer messages in cover emails and bill summaries. 'The primary opportunity is visibility – ensuring customers know when better deals are available to them,' Ms Collyer said. data insights director Sally Tindall said the changes were 'a step in the right direction' but more needed to be done to 'lift the clouds of confusion that hang over our electricity bills'. 'The new rule to limit price hikes to just once a year is a fantastic measure that will give Australians greater confidence when comparing their options,' she said. 'It means that Australians will be more likely to be comparing apples with apples when they do their research, particularly if the majority of retailers opt to implement any price hikes in July in line with the reference price changes. 'Right now, Australians looking for a competitive deal on their electricity plan really need to be checking on their rates at least once every six months. 'Limiting the number of price hikes to just one a year could reduce the need to check on your bill, freeing up time to focus on other expenses.' The new rules come into effect from July 1, 2026, giving retailers 12 months to implement them.
SBS Australia
19-06-2025
- Business
- SBS Australia
Energy price rules for electricity retailers are changing soon. Here's what to know
Energy retailers will be barred from raising bills more than once a year and will be forced to remove unfair fees for vulnerable customers under new rules announced by the energy market rule maker. The move will help reduce the complexity and opacity of the poorly understood electricity system, and prevent customers from being ripped off, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said. The changes announced by the Australian Energy Market Commission include: Preventing retailers from increasing prices more than once a year Banning excessive fees for late payments, and Prohibiting fees for vulnerable customers Retailers must also ensure vulnerable Australians are receiving their best available plan. The commission's rule changes will be phased in over the course of next year, with the first tranche coming into effect on 1 July 2026 and the remaining changes applying from 30 December 2026. The changes are intended to clamp down on retailers who lure customers in with cheap deals, only to move them onto higher cost plans or impose hidden fees and charges. "I'm not going to pretend that they're a silver bullet, but clearly, the situation hasn't been working," Bowen told ABC Radio National on Thursday. "There are many, many Australians, either in hardship or not in hardship, who aren't on their best possible plan. That's not their fault. We need to make it as easy as possible for them to change." Research has found about 40 per cent of Australians don't read their energy bill. More needs to be done to ensure busy consumers receive their best offer, Bowen said. But it's only part of a broader reform process to make the energy system simpler and fairer, he said. On Wednesday, Bowen flagged changes to so-called Default Market Offer rules in a bid to force energy companies to compete harder for customer dollars and prevent unfair price hikes. The regulations were intended to establish a benchmark price to limit price gouging and put downward pressure on prices through competition between energy companies, but were not working as planned, Bowen told the Australian Energy Week conference in Melbourne. Bowen flagged reforms to the Australian Energy Regulator's price-setting mechanism for NSW, South Australia and Queensland to better align with Victoria's rules.
ABC News
17-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Federal government to change power price rules to push costs lower
The federal energy minister will announce changes to how benchmark power prices are set, aimed at cutting back how much energy retailers can hit consumers to cover costs like advertising, on Wednesday. The changes could spark pushback from energy retailers, as the minister points to possible new "restraints" on costs being passed on to consumers through power bills. Energy Minister Chris Bowen will use a speech in Melbourne on Wednesday to flag the looming changes to the 'default market offer', which acts as a benchmark power price in New South Wales, South Australia and south-east Queensland. The DMO places a cap on what customers can be charged, while retailers are encouraged to offer more competitive deals. It has been rising faster than energy ministers would like, including lifts of up to 9.7 per cent in NSW this year. The Australian Energy Regulator pointed out that the main driver of the price hikes was administrative costs within retailers — like advertising and the cost of managing customers. Both state and federal ministers pushed back on that price hike when it was released as a draft in March, urging the regulator to consider the revenue and profits retailers were making. But the price hikes went ahead largely as first proposed. Chris Bowen is now announcing plans to change rules to try and rein in those costs. "The DMO was intended to act as a benchmark price to stop the worst forms of price gouging while leaving the job of putting downward pressure on prices to competition between energy companies, " he will say on Wednesday. "However, I'll be frank. I don't think it's working that way and reform is needed. "The vast majority of bill payers, some 80 per cent, could be getting a better deal. It's difficult to defend the DMO, when the customer is required to do the deal hunting." Mr Bowen will point to Victoria, which has its own energy regulator setting a different default market offer to other states, as a more ideal model. "The reformed pricing mechanism will bring (NSW, SA and south-east Queensland) closer in line with other jurisdictions like here in Victoria, which this year has seen significantly smaller bill increases compared to DMO regions," he will say. "The government will consult on the design … but changes could include stripping out the DMO's competition allowance and putting further restraints on what retailers can claim back from customers in their bills." The Australian Energy Council has previously pushed back on suggestions that 'retail costs' are to blame for price hikes, arguing that retail margins are already "notably tight". Chris Bowen will also use Wednesday's speech to talk up Australia's prospects of securing hosting rights for the COP31 climate summit in 2026. The minister is also pressuring Australia's sole rival for hosting rights, Türkiye, to drop out of the race. Australia is bidding to host the conference in partnership with the Pacific, and has the support of Pacific leaders and many European leaders too. Mr Bowen visited Türkiye last year, while travelling to the COP29 summit, to personally lobby officials over the bid. But Türkiye's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, used the conference in Azerbaijan to confirm his country's hopes to host the conference. Mr Bowen will call on Türkiye to step aside and allow Australia to take on the hosting rights unchallenged. "We've been working hard with our international partners and Türkiye to resolve the bid," he said. "That won't have been obvious, because we've kept those discussions private out of respect for Türkiye. It was legitimate for Türkiye to wait for the results of our election, given the opposition's position. "But given our election, and the strong support for our bid from our group, we are now hopeful for a resolution before too long." The minister will determine Australia's 2035 emissions target in September, a key milestone for Australia heading towards COP31. It will be released concurrently with the government's long-term Net Zero Plan that will step out Australia's pathway to net zero emissions by 2050.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$300 electricity bill hike looming for millions as price increases confirmed: ‘Inevitable'
Millions of Australian households will face higher electricity prices in the coming weeks. Major retailers AGL and Origin have confirmed their price changes for customers, and some households will see their bills increase by as much as $300 next year. AGL's prices will increase by 13.5 per cent in New South Wales, 7.8 per cent in South Australia, 7.5 per cent in Queensland and 6.8 per cent in Victoria from July 1. NSW customers will see their bills go up by as much as an extra $300 a year, based on medium usage. The average increase across all NSW customers will be $267, according to the retailer. Meanwhile, South Australia customers will see an average $200 increase, Queensland $155 and Victoria $110. RELATED Aussie mum's $1,200 electricity bill shock sparks warning for millions ATO superannuation warning as deadline for $30,000 deduction approaches Rare $2 coins worth up to $350 amid huge spike in demand Origin will raise its prices by an average of 9.1 per cent in NSW, 5.5 per cent in South Australia, and 3 to 4 per cent in Queensland. Electricity charges for Victoria have not been locked in yet, but gas will cost the average Victorian household an additional $85 a year. Aussie households will receive letters and emails from their energy retailers over the coming weeks ahead of price changes coming into effect from July 1. It follows the decision by the energy regulators to increase the majority of default prices for the year, which will see standard energy plans rise by up to $228. These are contracts offered to customers who can't or don't shop around. While only 10 per cent of customers are on default offers, retailers use the default pricing as a benchmark for their market contracts. The latest price hikes have been blamed on increased network charges, higher costs to serve customers and higher wholesale electricity expenses. The federal government has extended its energy bill relief until the end of the year, with the first $75 quarterly instalment to hit accounts from July 1. The price hikes follow two years of price increases across most networks, with the average annual electricity bill increasing by as much as $360 since June 1, 2023. Canstar data insights director Sally Tindall has urged households to shop around. 'The cold hard truth is that electricity price hikes are pretty much inevitable in states such as NSW, Queensland and South Australia this winter after the regulator approved hikes to the reference prices across all networks in these states,' she said. 'The exact costs for your daily supply charge and electricity rates are up to each provider, however, unless you're on an embedded network or in a state where there are limited options, this is one bill you can, and should, take control of.' Tindall said the reference price could be a good starting point, with providers required to tell you where the cost of your plan sits in relation to it. The greater the difference a plan is below the reference price, the more competitive it is. 'In Sydney, single rate plans are, on average, 7 per cent lower than the reference price, however, there are plans available that are up to 23 per cent lower than the regulator's benchmark,' she said. 'In Brisbane, the gap is even wider, with the average discount listed at 6 per cent, while the highest is 27 per cent.' Australians can use the Australian Energy Regulator's Energy Made Easy comparison website to compare prices. Victorians can use Victorian Energy Compare.
