Better offer message on your electricity bill: what it checks and what changes in December

On the first page of your electricity bill is a short message about whether you could save on another plan. A lot of people never see it. They pay by direct debit, or tap the payment link in the email, and the bill itself stays unopened. Research from Victoria that the rule makers relied on found roughly 40% of customers pay without opening and reading the bill. A national rule change puts the message into the email as well from 30 December 2026, so it is a good moment to know what the message actually checks. It is narrower than it looks.

What the better offer message is

Since 30 September 2023 the Australian Energy Regulator's billing guideline has required retailers in South East Queensland to run a better offer check for each customer and show the result on the bill. The retailer takes your usage history for the year, works out what you would pay on its own lowest cost generally available plan that applies to you, and compares that with your current plan. If the gap is bigger than a small threshold the regulator sets, the bill names the cheaper plan, says how to switch to it, and points you to Energy Made Easy to compare other retailers. The Australian Energy Market Commission's consultation paper on this rule change quotes the test in full.

What changes on 30 December 2026

On 11 September 2025 the commission made a rule that carries the message beyond the bill. Retailers will have to include it in any written communication that relates to a bill and is sent at the same time: in practice, the email that says your bill is ready, or a bill summary. The regulator had until 30 September 2026 to update its billing guideline, and retailers must follow the new version from 30 December 2026 at the earliest. The guideline can give them longer for some parts, so a retailer may not change every email on the first day.

Retailers do not have to start sending anything new. If you get a paper bill with no covering letter, nothing changes for you, because the message is already on the bill. The commission's final determination also notes that the message is not required on a final bill.

What the message does not tell you

• Anything about other retailers. The check only looks at plans your current retailer sells, which is why a positive message sends you to Energy Made Easy for the rest of the market.
• Anything about the year ahead. The check runs on your past usage, so solar panels, a battery, an electric car or more people at home only show up once they are in the history.
• Whether the cheaper plan is like for like. The commission's consultation paper gives the example of a customer with a solar feed-in tariff, who can be shown a better offer that does not have one.
• Whether it is still right today. The commission describes the check as a snapshot with some simplifications, says newer kinds of plan are often left out of it, and notes the link usually goes to the retailer's general plans page rather than to the plan on your bill.
• A small saving. Below the regulator's threshold the check counts as negative, so a plan that is only slightly cheaper is not flagged.

Am I likely to be on a dearer plan than I need

More likely than not. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found that between January and August 2024, 81% of customers could have saved by switching to a better offer, and the message had been compulsory on bills since the September before. The commission cites the figure in its consultation paper on this rule.

Does my retailer's better offer mean I should switch

Take it seriously, but not as the last word. If the message says your own retailer has a cheaper plan on your usage, you are paying more than you need to, and the commission found that once a customer decides on a plan, the switch itself is usually straightforward. But your retailer's cheapest plan is often not the cheapest plan in the Energex area, and a plan picked on last year's usage can be the wrong one for a house that has changed. How to compare plans without being sold to covers the free and paid ways to see the whole market, and how to switch covers the move itself, including the ten business day cooling-off period.

Check the conditions on the plan the message names, too. A plan that only wins because of a pay-on-time discount is only cheaper on the bills you pay on time. See are pay-on-time discounts worth it.

Your plan's rates now only go up in July

The better offer rule is one of a set the commission made at the request of energy ministers. Another took effect on 1 July 2026: under the consumer confidence rule, a retailer can only raise the rates on your market plan, or cut its feed-in tariff, on a single date in July each year. On a plan with a fixed price period the limit is once every 12 months from the day the contract started. And when a plan's discount or other benefit ends, the retailer cannot charge you a higher energy rate than its own standing offer. The exceptions are a change that follows from the network reassigning your tariff, and plans priced on the wholesale spot market.

So the rates on your own plan hold still between Julys, while the rest of the market keeps moving: retailers cut prices and launch plans all year. When electricity prices change goes through the calendar.

What to do when the next bill arrives

1. Find the better offer message, on the first page of the bill now and in the bill email once your retailer has made the change.
2. If it names a cheaper plan with your retailer, write down the plan's name and what conditions apply to it.
3. Before you ring, compare across every retailer, on Energy Made Easy or with a full check on your own usage.
4. If your house has changed in the past year, compare on recent usage rather than relying on a check that looks backwards.
5. If you think the message is missing or wrong, ask your retailer first. If that goes nowhere, the Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland handles billing complaints at no cost.