Guidelines - Energy Bill Relief

A $650 energy bill rebate is available to eligible small businesses in South Australia during 2023-24. This energy bill relief is co-funded by the South Australian and Australian Governments, as part of the Energy Bill Relief Fund.

Small businesses in privately-owned embedded or inset networks (e.g. shopping centres, industrial parks, office buildings) are also eligible for the $650 energy bill relief, provided they meet the required eligibility criteria.

Eligible small businesses on an embedded network will receive a one-off rebate of $650 from their embedded network operator. The embedded network operator will need to apply to their retailer for the bill energy relief on behalf of their eligible small business tenants. The retailer will apply a bulk credit to the embedded network operator’s next electricity bill, and the operator will then pass the energy bill relief onto each eligible tenant in their next bill.

The South Australian Government is responsible for the implementation of the energy bill relief in South Australia. These guidelines summarise the implementation details for embedded network operators in South Australia. Further detail is contained in the FAQ’s.

Applications for 2023-24 Energy Bill Relief are open until 31 December 2024.

To be eligible for the $650 bill rebate, a small business in an embedded network must:

• be located in South Australia,
• have an active electricity account with an embedded network operator on 1 January 2024,
• receive an itemised account from their embedded network operator for their consumption,
• have metered total consumption less than 160MWh per annum, as defined by the National Energy Retail Law as it applies in South Australia,
• not be an excluded business. An excluded business includes:
  • banks and financial institutions (e.g. branches, ATMs);
  • utilities (including telecommunication companies); and
  • government-owned agencies and government-owned businesses.

Eligible ‘On market’ tenants (those physically inside an embedded network but having an electricity contract with an Authorised Retailer) have their rebate applied directly by their own electricity retailer.

The energy bill relief for eligible small businesses on an embedded network will be applied as a one-off rebate of $650.

The energy bill relief will be applied to the embedded network operators account as a bulk credit by the retailer and must be passed on to the eligible small business tenants as a one-off credit of $650.

Applying the energy bill relief payment on a single date (active account as at 1 January 2024) assists with the administration of relief for businesses on embedded networks.

Embedded networks (or inset networks) are privately owned networks that serve multiple end users, occupants and/or tenants. The owner of the site with an embedded network runs the network infrastructure and energy distribution.

The site owner also usually buys the energy from an energy retailer and then on-sells the energy to the different consumers at the site.

Typically, the building owner will either be or will appoint an embedded network operator to be responsible for the billing, collection and customer service from the tenant.

(i) Lodging a claim for bill energy relief payments with your retailer

Embedded network operators are to notify their retailer as soon as possible of the number of eligible small business tenants they had in their embedded network on 1 January 2024, using the relevant Relief Application Form (see https://business.sa.gov.au/pro...). The form should be completed as soon as possible to assist retailers to credit accounts in a timely manner.

The value of the energy bill relief will appear as a bulk credit on the embedded network operator’s next electricity bill issued after the relevant form is lodged with the retailer. It will NOT be made as a separate payment from the retailer.

Electricity retailers in South Australia are aware of this process. Please contact your retailer for the appropriate method to submit the required Relief Application Form.

Applications for 2023-24 Energy Bill Relief must be submitted by 31 December 2024.

(ii) Paying the bill relief to your embedded network tenants

Each embedded network operator, or their respective billing agent, is to apply the $650 energy bill relief payment to each eligible tenant on the bill/invoice issued immediately after receiving the retailer’s bulk credit.

The energy bill relief payment is to be displayed as a separate line item credit on the bill, with the wording “AUS SA Gov Energy Relief”, or similar. We note exact wording may depend on billing system requirements.

If a correction is required for under or over claiming at a later date, embedded network operators are required to notify their retailer and submit a reconciliation claim using the Variation Form (see https://business.sa.gov.au/pro... ).

The energy bill relief credits are not taxable or relevant for GST purposes. The bill relief should be applied after the GST-inclusive total has been calculated.

The application form and variation form referred to above will be available to download from https://business.sa.gov.au/pro....