Step one: complain to your retailer
Get your details ready
Have your account number, NMI, the bill or bills in question and any photos of meter readings. Write down what went wrong and what you want done.
Contact the retailer
Call, use live chat or email. Say clearly that you are making a complaint, so it goes through the formal process.
Get a reference number
Note the date, the name of the person you spoke to and the reference number. Keep copies of emails.
Ask to escalate if it stalls
If the first answer does not fix it, ask for the complaint to go to a team leader or the retailer's complaints team.
The most common complaints are about high bills, estimated reads, transfer errors after switching, disconnection and payment plans. Our guides to reading your bill and estimated reads help you check a bill before you call.
Step two: contact the energy ombudsman
If your retailer has not resolved the complaint, contact the ombudsman for your state. Ombudsman schemes are free for customers, independent of the retailers and can investigate, negotiate a settlement and, where needed, make a decision the retailer must follow. They also handle complaints about networks, such as connection delays and outages.
Disputed bills and disconnection
A retailer should not disconnect you over an amount that is the subject of an unresolved complaint with the retailer or the ombudsman. Keep paying any part of the bill you do not dispute. See our disconnection guide for the full rules.
What the ombudsman can and cannot do
- Can: deal with billing errors, credit and collection problems, disconnection, transfer and switching errors, customer service failures, supply problems and some embedded network complaints.
- Can: order a retailer to fix an error, waive or refund charges, or pay compensation within set limits.
- Cannot: set electricity prices or overturn a price change that followed the rules.
- Cannot: usually look at a complaint the retailer has not had a chance to fix first.
Since 1 July 2026, embedded network sellers in NSW have had to be members of EWON, so residents of apartments and caravan parks with an embedded network can take complaints there too.
Questions about energy complaints
Contact your retailer first and say clearly that you are making a complaint. Get a reference number. If it is not resolved, contact the energy ombudsman in your state, which is free and independent.
Yes. Energy ombudsman schemes are free for customers. They are funded by the energy businesses that must belong to them.
The ACT has no energy ombudsman. Energy complaints that your retailer does not resolve go to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal on (02) 6207 1740.
A retailer should not disconnect you for not paying an amount that is the subject of an unresolved complaint. Keep paying the part of the bill that is not in dispute, and tell your retailer and the ombudsman if you receive a disconnection warning.
Many are resolved within a few weeks once the ombudsman refers them back to a senior team at the retailer. Complex complaints that need an investigation can take longer.
Sources
Every rate on this page comes from the regulator or the regulated retailer. Last checked October 2026. Prices include GST unless we say otherwise.