Energy watchdog could be told to probe power and gas firms
This bill (a draft law) would let the Energy Minister order the energy watchdog to look hard at the power, gas and fuel trade. The watchdog is the body that checks power and gas firms.
Official name: Competition and Consumer Amendment (AER Inquiry Powers) Bill 2026
- The Energy Minister could order the energy watchdog to run a deep check, called a probe, into any part of the energy trade.
- The watchdog could also ask to run a probe of its own. The minister would have to say yes first.
- Firms would have to hand over facts and papers. This could include things that happened before the law starts.
- The watchdog would report to the minister. Most reports would be made public, unless the minister says to keep one secret.
- The bill was brought into Parliament on 28 October 2026. It has not been voted on yet.
Who it affects
- Power, gas and fuel firms: The energy watchdog could probe you. You could have to hand over facts and papers, even about the past.
- Data centres and car charging firms: The government's notes name these as things a probe could look at. So you could be asked for facts too.
- Firms that link up home batteries: A probe could look at firms that join many home batteries into one big power source. The bill does not name people who just own a battery at home.
- Overseas firms: The rules reach overseas firms in the same business group as an energy firm in Australia.
- Energy bodies owned by governments: Bodies run by state, territory or federal governments are covered too, such as a power company a state owns.
- People who pay power and gas bills: Nothing on your power or gas bill changes because of this law. Probes could look at prices, billing and help for people who cannot pay.
- Your billing details: The watchdog may get some billing details, like your address, from your power company. These would not be passed to other bodies or named in a report.
- Building owners who sell power to tenants: Small private power networks, like one in a block of flats, are listed as something a probe could look at.
Why it exists
A bill is a draft law. Parliament is the group of elected members who vote on laws for the whole country. A minister is a member who runs one area of government. The Energy Minister runs the area that deals with power and gas.
The Australian Energy Regulator is the energy watchdog. It checks that power and gas firms follow the rules. The bill calls a deep check of a market an inquiry. We call it a probe here.
The government says events overseas have left doubt about whether there is enough fuel to make power. Firms buy deals that lock in a power price for a later date. The price of those deals went up.
This happened in the main power market. That market links the power supply in the eastern and southern states. The government says it needs good facts fast to make good choices.
Right now, the Energy Minister has no clear way to tell the energy watchdog to probe a new problem. Another body, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, can already run probes into prices. We call it the competition watchdog. It runs a probe when the Treasurer, the minister in charge of money, asks.
This bill would give the energy watchdog a power to run probes too, much like the competition watchdog's. Chris Bowen, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, brought in the bill. The government also wrote notes that explain the bill. We call them the government's notes.
What a probe could cover
A probe would look at the sale of energy goods or energy services. Energy goods are power, gas, and fuels used to make them. That means things like coal, diesel and natural gas. Gas in pipes and gas in bottles both count.
Energy services are things firms sell that are linked to power, gas or fuel. The government's notes give many examples. One is a big deal between a power firm and a data centre. A data centre is a building full of computers that uses lots of power.
Another example is a small private power network. Say the owner of a block of flats buys power and sells it on to the people living there. That is a small private network.
Some firms pay people to use less power at busy times, when the poles and wires are full. Some firms link many home batteries to work like one big power source. Car charging firms are on the list too.
A probe could look at prices, bills, and how firms compete and act. It could look at help for people who cannot pay. It could check how much fuel is kept in storage.
It could also look at firms that trade in two markets at once. Say a power firm sells power and also buys and sells price deals for later dates. A probe could check if the firm uses one to push the price in the other up or down.
The government could take some goods or services off the list a probe can look at. It would do this with detailed rules it writes itself, without a new vote in Parliament. It says this is because the energy trade changes fast.
How a probe would work
The Energy Minister would start a probe with a written notice. The minister could order the watchdog to run it. Or the watchdog could ask to run one, and the minister could say yes.
The notice would say what the probe is about and the deadline for the report. It could also name the firms being looked at. If it leaves them out, the watchdog must write to the minister to say which firms they are.
The minister could give orders about how the probe is run. One example is whether the report goes public. The minister could change or drop those orders later. The watchdog would have to follow them. The minister could push back the deadline more than once.
The watchdog would have to put out a public notice for each probe, so anyone can see it has started. It would also have to tell each named firm directly. It must tell them again if the deadline moves.
The watchdog could take back any notice it sent. Then the law would treat that notice as if it had never been sent.
To get facts and papers, the watchdog would use powers it already has under the current law. The government's notes do not mention any new fines for firms that refuse. Facts it collects stay private under the rules that already protect them.
Who is covered
The rules would cover energy sold by companies or by national government bodies. They would also cover energy sold from one state to another. Energy sold inside the Australian Capital Territory is covered too.
Bodies run by any government are covered too, along with companies those governments control. A state-owned power company is one example.
A government itself could not be charged with a crime under these rules. A company set up and owned by a government could be, if it broke the law. The notes do not list the crimes.
The rules would reach things that happen outside Australia. Many energy firms belong to big global groups. The watchdog could get facts from overseas firms in those groups. The notes give examples, such as fuel sellers, firms that trade in money deals, data centre owners and tech firms.
Reports and secrecy
At the end of each probe, the watchdog would give the minister a report. It would also give a copy to each firm the probe was about.
The minister could say when the report goes public. If the minister says nothing, the watchdog must wait 28 days after giving the minister the report. Then it would put the report out as soon as it can.
The minister could also order that a report be kept secret. The government says this may be needed to protect business secrets, or facts that could move prices. It may also be needed to keep the power supply safe, or to protect action the watchdog is taking against a firm.
The government says reports would focus on what the probe found. Personal details are not needed. Any personal details in a report would be removed, so no one can be named.
Sharing facts between watchdogs
The competition watchdog could ask the energy watchdog for facts from a probe. So could other national bodies that the government names later in detailed rules.
The energy watchdog would have to hand the facts over if it agrees they are needed for that body's work. It would not share personal details. It could say no if the facts would not be kept safe.
It would not have to tell a firm when it passes on that firm's facts.
The same rule would work the other way. The competition watchdog can already make firms give it facts. It would have to share those with the energy watchdog if asked, and if they are needed. This covers facts it got before the new law starts. It could also say no if the facts would not be kept safe.
The government says this means firms are not asked for the same facts twice. Past probes by the competition watchdog did collect some billing details, like home and email addresses. The government says these details helped the competition watchdog spot odd results in the market.
Legal shield for members
Members of the energy watchdog running a probe would get the same legal protection as a judge of the High Court. That is the top court in Australia.
The government says this stops a watchdog member being sued, or taken to court, in their own name over a probe. It says this lets them work without fear. It also says the watchdog can still be held to the law for how it uses its powers.
Members of the competition watchdog already have this same protection for their probes.
Past events and smaller fixes
A probe could look at things that happened before the law starts. Say a firm sold a service last year. The watchdog could ask for papers about it, even if they were made before the law began.
The government says this does not create any new crimes or fines for past acts. It only lets a probe use old facts.
The bill would not change the competition watchdog's own probes. The Treasurer could still tell it to probe energy prices. Any probe it is running now could go on.
The rest of the bill makes small changes to the main competition law. They add notes that point readers to the new rules.
Waiting in the House
A bill becomes law when the Governor-General signs it. The Governor-General is the King's stand-in in Australia. The new rules would start the day after it is signed.
The bill was brought into the House of Representatives on 28 October 2026. Parliament has two houses, and this is one. The other is the Senate, which also votes on every bill. Members have not yet voted on this bill. Both houses must pass it before it can become law.
Its journey through Parliament
| 28 Oct 2026 | House of Representatives: Introduced and read a first time |
| 28 Oct 2026 | House of Representatives: Second reading moved |