BSL welcomes energy reforms for people living in social housing, retirement homes, apartments and caravan parks

The Brotherhood of St. Laurence (BSL) welcomes the Victorian Government’s announcement to explore capping power rates on embedded networks through a consultation process.

Embedded networks are private electricity networks found in social housing, apartments, retirement homes and caravan parks. There are at least 174,000 embedded network households in Victoria, many of whom face disadvantage. Customers on embedded networks commonly pay the Victorian Default Offer (VDO) electricity rate, which is substantially higher than the cheapest market offers.  

Users generally have no choice of offer or company. They are usually locked into one provider and cannot practically access the retail energy market. They have less access to consumer protections, government supports and green offers.    

Through our work supporting people experiencing disadvantage to access the Power Saving Bonus and reduce their energy bills many people told us that they couldn’t switch because of where they lived. We’ve advocated to the State Government for prices to be capped and we welcome this announcement which will ultimately reduce the energy costs for people who need relief. 

Consultation for the proposed reforms is now open to the public. If you would like to get involved and share your thoughts, please visit Victorian Government’s consultation website at https://engage.vic.gov.au/embedded-networks-review