Up to 114 electricity and gas customers were affected in Victoria

Victoria’s Essential Services Commission has fined EnergyAustralia $276,626 after alleging the retailer failed to protect eligible multi-site life support customers.

Between 2021 and 2025, EnergyAustralia self-reported that it lacked effective policies, systems and procedures for registering and deregistering those customers under Victoria’s life support rules.

As a result, up to 80 electricity customers and 34 gas customers were either not registered or did not receive required information within the time frames set by the state’s energy rules.

The $276,626 penalty covers seven alleged breaches. They include failing to establish registration and deregistration processes, missing the one-business-day deadline to record customer details on two occasions, missing the five-business-day deadline to send required information on two occasions, and failing twice to give a distribution company life support details within one business day.

Under Victorian rules, energy businesses must identify, register and support customers who rely on energy-powered medical equipment such as ventilators or dialysis machines.

During prolonged power outages, emergency agencies use those registers to identify and prioritise people who may need urgent assistance.

Essential Services Commission chairperson and commissioner Gerard Brody linked the issue to recent network risks. “The past summer’s bushfires and heatwaves are examples of the risks to our electricity network. It’s incredibly important that energy businesses have processes in place to make sure those who rely on life support equipment are looked after.”

EnergyAustralia has since reviewed and revised its processes for registering life support customers, according to the commission.

Brody said the retailer self-reported the issue, cooperated with the investigation and promptly changed its processes after identifying the non-compliance.

Proposed Victorian rule changes

Meanwhile, the commission has proposed new rules to strengthen protections for life support customers during extreme weather events.

The draft changes would require retailers and embedded network operators to carry out a yearly check-in with life support customers, confirm whether equipment is still required at the premises, and keep details up to date.

According to the proposal, medical practitioners would also be able to identify customers experiencing a life-threatening condition during extended outages.

The commission also wants retailers to hold sole responsibility for changes to the life support register.

In addition, businesses would need to let customers nominate a secondary contact and choose a preferred way to receive outage and emergency messages.

A multi-site customer is a small business customer with multiple premises.