EnergyAustralia fined $14 million for misleading hundreds of thousands of consumers

EnergyAustralia has been fined $14 million by the Federal Court for misleading hundreds of thousands of consumers about electricity prices.

The energy retailer admitted to breaching consumer law and the Electricity Retail Code by not stating the lowest possible price and misrepresenting what an average customer would expect to pay under its electricity offer in communications sent over roughly three months in mid-2022.

Those communications were sent to about 566,000 people.

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EnergyAustralia also admitted that it didn't properly disclose price differences in 27 online offers published around the same time, that were viewed more than 200,000 times.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took the retailer to court last September, and welcomed the penalty for the "false, misleading or deceptive statements".

"EnergyAustralia breached laws which were designed to help consumers to compare electricity offers and identify the best deal by increasing transparency," ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.

"EnergyAustralia's failure to fully inform consumers meant they could not accurately compare offers from competing retailers and may have been denied the opportunity to choose the best deal for them.

"Some consumers may also have been misled by EnergyAustralia's statements into thinking that a price change was less than it actually was, causing them to stay with their existing plan when in fact a different plan may have represented a better deal."

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EnergyAustralia's offers and messages were published when power prices were surging, and the consumer watchdog said retailer's conduct was a timely reminder for households to shop around.

"It is essential that electricity retailers provide consumers with accurate information so they can compare and access the most competitive prices in the market," Cass-Gottlieb said.

"This enforcement action is a reminder that the ACCC is closely monitoring the electricity market, conducting regular compliance checks and ready to take strong action when appropriate."

In a statement, EnergyAustralia apologised for its breaches.

"We acknowledge this $14 million penalty reflects the seriousness of the failure in our duty to provide clear and accurate information to customers," managing director Mark Collette said.

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"We are sincerely sorry.

"Once we became aware of the issue, we took immediate action. We sought to contact every customer impacted by this issue, as well as reviewed our pricing processes and customer communication. 

"We have made significant improvements to our governance. We are continually investing in systems to uplift our customers' experience.

"We are also working with our teams to ensure that we identify any issues and rectify them as quickly as possible."

It's not the first time EnergyAustralia has been found to have engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct, having been fined $1.2 million by the Federal Court in 2014 and $1 million in 2015.