Assessing the energy retail market's competitiveness and efficiency

We have been asked by the Victorian Government to monitor and report on the competitiveness and efficiency of the Victorian energy retail market, as part of recommendations made by the independent bipartisan review of electricity and gas retail markets in 2018.

Since then, we have engaged with interested stakeholders and the public to develop a framework and approach to help assess whether the Victorian energy retail market is delivering good value to energy consumers.

We held a public forum on 7 November 2019 to hear from a broad range of experts including economists, energy experts, consumer advocates, industry, regulators, commentators and policy makers about their perspectives on this topic. See the resources tab for presentation materials from the forum.

It will help ensure that the Victorian energy retail market delivers benefits to consumers by providing value for money energy prices and great customer service.

The Victorian energy market report 2020–21 provides our first report under this framework. In this report, we provide a detailed article on a ‘striking consumer preference’ for large energy retailers, including detailed economic analysis and research on how the market is functioning.

30 November 2021

In 2020, we conducted surveys with Victorian customers to understand their experience of the energy retail market during the coronavirus pandemic.

We also undertook user engagement research to explore customer experience of comparing and changing energy offers, and the level of customer confidence and trust in the various comparison platforms.

Our framework and approach paper outlines the key reasons reporting on the energy market is important.

Download the full framework and approach paper, or view the executive summary document.

Agenda and background information

Papers prepared by our invited economists

Each economist prepared a paper on their views, which was be presented at the forum. We asked each economist to answer questions about
how they would undertake the task of assessing the competitiveness and efficiency of the Victorian energy retail market.

We asked each economist:

'Given the changes to the market that have resulted from the implementation of the recommendations from the Independent Review:

1. What would you expect to observe if the Victorian energy market was operating competitively in terms of outcomes for household and business consumers?
2. What is your view on the Victorian market’s performance and how does this compare to other markets?
3. What sort of innovation would we hope to encourage in a competitive market?
4. What measures would you use to undertake your assessment?'

These papers are the views of the authors and do not reflect the views of the commission.