Energy provider ENGIE to 'correct' electricity bills for thousands of South Australian customers

When Peter Doyle received a letter from his energy provider about an "outrageous" increase to his power plan, he immediately started to ask questions. 

The letter from global energy giant ENGIE stated the peak power price would increase to $1.10 per kilowatt hour, more than double the rate available in most energy contracts in South Australia.

That change has led to the company making an apology, as well as a price "correction" for 3,000 South Australian customers.

"I just happened to get a letter from the retailer to say now I'm going up to $1.10 per kWh and a daily supply charge of $1.60," Mr Doyle said.

"I rang them up and they said, 'no that's correct, that's what your new contract is going to be'.

"I reached out to another retailer, and he said 'you shouldn't be charged this, it's impossible' but they were trying it out."

'This behaviour is reprehensible'

ENGIE estimated Peter Doyle's new electricity rate would cost him $6,223 over 12 months, or more than double the "reference price", also known as the market default offer.

South Australian Energy Minister, Tom Koutsantonis said the price hike was "outrageous" and demonstrated that the energy market was "broken".

"I hope there is change coming and change coming fast because if ENGIE keep on doing this, they're going to not only going to cop the ire of their customers, but also the government and the regulators because this behaviour is reprehensible."

When ABC News initially contacted ENGIE, a spokesperson said the rate was correct.

"This customer's 13 per cent annual price increase is in line with the average price increases for ENGIE customers in South Australia," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"Given that this customer is also a high net solar exporter (which is not taken into account for bill comparison purposes), the estimated dollar value increase does not entirely reflect their situation."

But after Mr Koutsantonis raised the pricing issue with ENGIE chief executive Shannon Hyde, the company conceded the rate was "erroneous and in need of correction".

A spokesperson said up to 3,000 ENGIE customers in South Australia would receive a price reduction backdated to August 1.

ENGIE said the issue was confined to SA.

"We're aware that a small number of South Australian customers have received price change letters from ENGIE with new electricity rates that are higher than expected," the spokesperson said.

"These customers have unique features to their energy accounts, such as legacy offers with deep discounts — this means the actual bill impact of the change will have been modest, but the underlying rates do need correcting.

"We sincerely apologise for any confusion this might have caused and are working hard to remedy the situation as quickly and completely as possible."

'We desperately need a fairer system'

Mr Koutsantonis said he remained concerned about ENGIE's conduct and the behaviour of other energy retailers.

"The problem we have is that the market is broken, and with a broken market, you get broken outcomes like this, and that's why we need to intervene and make sure that we can give consumers better rights so they can actually retaliate and get cheaper prices," Mr Koutsantonis said.

"The way companies are doing their billing is really, really dodgy and what I think what needs to happen is people need to check regularly to make sure they are on the best deal."

South Australian Council of Social Services chief executive Catherine Earl said the constant bill checking was unfair and many people were experiencing retailer switch fatigue.

"We're requiring people to be hyper vigilant around their energy use and constantly engaged in the market that is going to make people fatigued."

While the South Australian government believed New South Wales had the highest electricity costs, it said it wanted greater consumer protection and had referred ENGIE to the Australian Energy Regular (AER).

AER said in a statement that it was "aware of and will engage further with ENGIE on this issue".

"If there is evidence of a breach of the National Energy Retail Rules or the National Energy Retail Law, the AER will consider and take action as appropriate," AER said in the statement.

"Where an energy consumer has concerns, we encourage them to contact their retailer or the ombudsman in their state."

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said while a business was "free to set its own prices", under consumer law "businesses must not make misleading statements to consumers about prices, including the reason for any price increase".

A report by Financial Counselling Victoria Rank the Energy Retailer 2025 ranked ENGIE the worst of 18 energy providers, with a score of minus 30. 

The report said: "Retailers ENGIE, Jacana Energy and Lumo Energy performed substantially worse than all others, due to substantial proportions of negative ratings, outweighing positive ratings". 

Mr Doyle has decided to stay with ENGIE after he was offered a much cheaper rate.

"After I spoke to the ABC, next thing you know they're coming up with a new contract and they've dropped it down to 46 cents — which is less than half of what I was originally paying," he said.

"As a consumer especially in this state … they're just pulling the wool over our eyes."