Who sets electricity and gas prices? 

Retailers in NSW set their own retail gas and electricity prices. They set prices to cover the costs of providing energy services, which include wholesale costs, the costs of transporting energy through the networks, their retail costs and margins, and any environmental scheme costs. 

From 1 July 2026, retailers are only permitted to change prices for a market offer once every 12 months and this will usually occur in July each year. However, retailers can publish new market offers at any time throughout the year with different prices. 

In NSW, you can choose the retailer and the electricity and gas plan you sign up to.  See more information about managing your electricity account. 

Competition should keep energy prices as low as possible because if retailers increase their price above their costs, they will lose customers to other suppliers. Over the longer term, this competitive pressure provides an incentive for retailers to find more efficient ways of supplying energy. 

Price caps for standard offers

If you have not signed up to a market offer for electricity, then you will be on a standing offer and there is a limit to how much your retailer can charge (for a given level of consumption). This is called the “default market offer” or “DMO”. 

The Default Market Offer sets a maximum electricity price that can be charged to residential and small business customers on a standing offer. 

When advertising electricity offers, retailers are also required to compare the price of a market offer to the Default Market Offer price. This helps consumers to easily compare offers.

Who sets the DMO?

The DMO is set by the Australian Energy Regulator. The DMO applies to around 10% of customers in NSW. 

The DMO decreased on 1 July 2026 by 3.4% to 7.7% for residential customers, and by 9.0% to 20.9% for small business customers. Customers on a standing offer could save more by switching to a competitive market offer.

There is no DMO for gas.  

Are there any other price limits that apply?

From 1 July 2026, customers on market offers are protected by the DMO when the benefit period under their contract ends (an example of a benefit may be a percentage discount off a customer’s bills, and this may be for the first year only). This is due to retailers being prohibited from charging customers on market offers more than the retailer’s standing offer when any time‑limited benefit ends. This also applies to market offers where the benefits ended prior to 1 July 2026. 

There are also price limits for certain services provided to customers living in an embedded network. If you live in a residential land lease community where electricity is supplied through an embedded network, you cannot be charged more than the median market offer for your area for your electricity, as determined by IPART.

As a result of recent legislative changes, IPART will also be responsible for determining maximum prices for all energy services supplied through embedded networks, including for electricity, gas, hot water and centralised air-conditioning. We are currently in the process of finalising our pricing methodology for determining these maximum prices, and we expect new maximum prices to be in place in 2027. 

What can I do if I am unhappy about electricity and gas prices?

To ensure you are receiving the best deal possible, you should shop around on Energy Made Easy, which is the Australian Government’s official price comparison website for electricity and gas. You may find cheaper prices than you are currently paying. 

The NSW Government also provides advice on small changes you can make to help reduce your energy consumption. 

You should contact your retailer for help if you have trouble paying your energy bills due to hardship. Retailers are required to have hardship policies for their residential customers.

We encourage you to find out if you are eligible for any rebates and apply for them using the NSW Government Find an energy rebate website. From 1 July 2026, retailers are also required to inform customers (when signing up to an energy plan or switching to a different plan) about concession, rebate and relief schemes available and ask if you are eligible. 

What is IPART’s role?

As outlined above, IPART determines the median market electricity offer for each distribution district, which caps the electricity prices for customers living in residential land lease communities. We will also set maximum prices for electricity, gas, hot water and centralised air-conditioning in embedded networks (expected to commence during 2027). 

IPART does not set energy prices for other customers, but we do have several roles related to energy prices:

For further information, please see the answers to our frequently asked questions.