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The cost-of-living crisis has deepened the urgency of ensuring an affordable energy price for Victorians. On Consumer Action’s frontlines, we hear from Victorians every day who are struggling to meet their basic costs of essentials.

Ensuring the VDO continues to meet the objective of providing a simple, trusted and reasonably priced electricity option is of increasing importance as Victorians continue to face the impacts of the cost of living crisis, as well as the costs of the transition to renewable energy.

While supportive of the purpose of the VDO, we note that increasing energy prices in the wider market continue to have significant impacts on Victorians in energy hardship who are contacting the NDH for assistance.

Due to the harms Victorians are facing as a result of widening and deepening energy poverty, we provide an additional recommendation to address this growing problem via introduction of a social tariff,  to ensure that low-income Victorians can afford an essential energy service.

Read the full submission (PDF).