In Australia, energy retailers do not actually supply your energy, they only supply your bills. So even if your retailer disappears overnight, your energy supply will not be affected.
However the billing for your energy supply will be interrupted, and the energy regulations accommodate this scenario with the Retailer of Last Resort (RoLR) regulation.
RoLR is governed by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and the Essential Services Commission (ESC) in Victoria. These entities can revoke a retailer’s license and transfer their customers to a new retailer if necessary.
Both AER and ESC maintain a register and rules governing which retailer a customer will be transferred to under a RoLR event.
If your energy retailer goes out of business, the process to transfer you to your retailer of last resort will start automatically.
Tip
Even if you’re notified that your retailer has been deregistered and your account will be subject to a RoLR process, you can still switch to an alternative retailer of your choice at any time. You’re not obliged to wait until the RoLR transition is completed.
No matter if you actively initiate a switch to a new retailer, or do nothing and allow the RoLR process to proceed, your energy supply will not be disrupted, and you do not need to do anything immediately.
Important
If you, or someone at your premises, require life support equipment, you should contact your new retailer immediately.
Your retailer of last resort will contact you in writing with details. They will explain:
the start date of the new arrangements
the terms and conditions of the new contract, including prices.
Generally, the RoLR retailer will put you on their default offer plan, which typically will be priced higher than the market offers available to you. So it makes sense to immediately switch to the best available plan rather than wait for the RoLR process to complete.
You can find the best-priced plan available to you from the Bill Hero results for your most recent bill. If your previous plan from your now out-of-business retailer was the best price available, then this plan may be displayed in your Bill Hero results as being ‘more expensive’.