Energy Consumers Australia (ECA) welcomes the chance to respond to the Australian Energy Regulator’s (AER) review of the Default Market Offer (DMO) for 2026–27. As the national voice for households and small businesses, we believe this review is a critical opportunity to make the DMO a genuine safety net for disengaged and vulnerable consumers, especially amid rising energy prices and cost-of-living pressures.
The new DMO objective, to provide a fair, trusted, and reasonably priced electricity option, requires the AER to put consumers at the centre of its decisions. Our submission calls for lowering wholesale cost benchmarks, scrutinising retail costs, and setting customer acquisition and retention costs at or near zero to ensure transparency and affordability.
Small businesses need particular attention. Around 16–18% remain on standing offers, facing higher retail margins and greater financial stress. Aligning the small business margin with the residential margin, and reviewing both margins downward, would deliver immediate relief. Combined with fair treatment of bad debt and network costs, these changes will make the DMO work better for all consumers.
For the DMO to be ‘trusted’, consumers should have confidence that the AER in setting the DMO is prioritising outcomes for consumers, not energy providers, and that the DMO only includes the efficient costs of providing an essential service.
