AGL Refuses a Government Rebate Refund

[garywell]

Hi,
I have been AGL customer for a few years now. I have recently received the QLD energy rebates part of which went towards my bill and remaining shows credit into my account.
I have closed this account due to work circumstances chance and left that accommodation.
When I applied for a refund, AGL refuses to do so.

[Lester]

This is perhaps one of the most contentious issues of late here on the forum.

The rebate is paid to an active electricity account that is eligible, then the retailers applies the (QLD) credit to each bill as it comes up, keeping in mind the federal $300 increments of $75 a quarter are also paid onto an electricity account to add to the credit pool.

So it's not AGLs, yet if a previous power consumer no longer has an account, what happens then ?

They are not eligible to have the further credits without an eligible account, and again, it's not AGLs, so what happens to it ?

If you are moving to a new address and required switching to a new premises for your account, apparently credits move with you (?).

https://www.agl.com.au/help-support/billing-payments/request-credit-refund 

Note there is no mention here of any state / fed rebate credits.

The official GOVCO treasury info on this is here . . .

https://www.energy.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-07/ebrf-qandas-for-households-and-embedded-networ... 

Note page 2 "Retailers are responsible for providing rebates to their customers with an active electricity
account on the following census dates" (except WA), so this indicates if you move or such, and don't get a new connection at a new location, you're no longer eligible.

I would assume AGL still don't get to keep the (QLD) credit amounts, but not sure if they are just bulk refunded to GOVCO if not used by a certain date.

See other points about moving, changing retailers etc on page 3.

Now, see point 16 on page 4, that is open to how any larger QLD periodic credits might be handled.

"16. What happens if a customer closes their account after the rebate has been applied to the bill?
• Normal retailer business processes would apply and any credit against a customer’s
account should be settled as per the terms and conditions of the customer’s contract."

In finding the treasury doc, noted this Whirlpool forum thread (note these are normal everyday people and opinions).

https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/3m012my0 

Good luck with getting that sorted.

[Natalie-AGL]

Hi @garywell, 

Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us. 

We are sorry to hear about the poor experience that you have received from us around requesting a credit for the difference of the QLD energy rebates and can appreciate how frustrating this would be to deal with, especially that your account is now closed. There is an eligibility criteria linked to the cost-of-living rebate and National Energy Bill Relief, however, as you have closed your account, you are eligible for the rebate to be refunded and apologise that you had not initially been advised of this. 

I'll send you a message to get some further details from you, so that we can further assist you. 

Kind Regards,
Natalie

[softozau]

Good day Natalie,

I am in the same situation, my power got disconnected after the sale of our house and when I requested the refund, I was just sent $48, none of the gov rebate credit (roughly $1000) I still had due to low usage and solar panels..

As I have now moved to an off grid location , I do not need an account with AGL anymore..

Can you please tell us what we need to ask your help desk chat?

I explained everything to the operator ealier but as  stated above, the gov rebates were excluded from the refund

Many thanks

[Pinkwuss]

the law is simple if you close your account you are eligible to have the rebates refunded to you AGL cannot refuse u if they do take it to the ombudsman or ACCC and post it on social media 

[pn007]

I'm not sure why I didn't get my refund on my latest statement, Qld Gov states that rebates will be paid on the first statement after 1st July, when I enquired about this I was told it will appear ramdomly on my account in the next 4-6 weeks? If I'm not the only one in this case, that's a huge amount of our tax payers money sitting somewhere??

[Pinkwuss]

If u leave agl they must refund you

[pn007]

My neighbour is with Alinta Engery and has already been paid out, it's
short sighted of AGL, as they will not only have to pay the money out but
will loose the business, because of their approach.

Regards
Peter Ashman
Mob 0490 875794

[Pinkwuss]

well it was well publicised that if you changed suppliers you were able to
get a refund of the rebate i was with origin and i was advised that rebates
were not refundable so i changed suppliers and advised origin i would like
a refund under their refund policy of credit balances within 7 days it took
3 so i guess with these bigger suppliers u need to push hard