AGL Energy records big profit, while energy bills skyrocket and more than a hundred thousand customers struggle with bill debt.
Retailer and energy generator AGL Energy - which accounts for around 34% of Australia's retail energy market announced a profit of $756 million today, up from $644 million from FY25.
While this is great news for executives and shareholders, it's bad news for customers - because those profits are a direct result of skyrocketing energy bills which have pushed even more households into energy debt over the past 12 months.
Figures from the Australian Energy Regulator show that more than 110,000 AGL customers had outstanding electricity bills at the end of March 2026. The number of AGL customers on a formal hardship debt repayment plan also increased by a third compared to the previous year - from 21,456 to 28,168. While the average debt they held increased by $680 (39%) from $1749 in Q3 FY2025 to $2429 in Q3 FY2026.
In response to the record profit announcement from AGL, Stop The Bill Shock (STBS), an alliance of energy justice advocates, has condemned energy retailers for continuing to increase electricity bills and their profit margins while failing to pass along the savings from lower wholesale electricity prices. STBS has also previously demanded that retailers forgo a fraction of their super-profits to relieve the burden on debt-trapped households.
STBS is now calling for the Federal Government to step in to end Australia's energy bill crisis, by compelling retailers to pass on lower wholesale electricity prices to their retail customers, purchasing and cancelling existing energy debt and expanding access to energy efficient technologies and home upgrades that can help to lower bills.
Jay Coonan, Stop The Bill Shock campaign spokesperson and Antipoverty Centre co-coordinator, said:
"While most of us are struggling to keep up with the ever-increasing costs of living, energy companies like AGL have been laughing all the way to the bank. They have deliberately kept energy prices high to line the pockets of their shareholders and executives while trapping tens of thousands of their customers into debt, from which it is almost impossible to escape, and resisting repeated calls to do anything serious to help customers who are under enormous financial strain.
"Thanks to this greedy and irresponsible behaviour, we are now in a full-blown energy price crisis. We have no choice but to ask the government to step in and intervene immediately to keep energy companies in line, ensure the lower wholesale prices are being passed through to our bills, expand access to cheap renewable energy and end the debt traps that are ruining lives."
Nic Seton, CEO for Parents for Climate, said:
"Wholesale electricity prices are the lowest they have been in six years, thanks to the surge in renewables and batteries, but families have only seen their power bills continue to increase, as greedy energy companies like AGL choose to boost their own margins and profits rather than pass the savings on.
"Energy is an essential service, not a luxury, and when hundreds of thousands of households are falling behind, the answer cannot be to leave families struggling to pay their bills while energy companies rake it in.
"Families should not be trapped in energy debt just to keep the lights on, the heater running, or food fresh in the fridge. Energy debt on this scale is not a personal failure. It is a product of a broken energy market which puts profits before people, and it's time to fix that. Cancelling energy debt would be game-changing. For children, it would mean less stress at home, safer living conditions, and a fairer chance to thrive."
Emma Bacon, Executive Director of Sweltering Cities, said:
"Too many people across the country are getting sick in the heat and the cold because they're struggling with energy costs and afraid to turn on the heater or A/C. While hundreds of thousands of people are in energy debt, AGL is banking massive profits – this should ring alarm bells for our energy system.
"The energy system isn't working when AGL can announce these types of profits, while at the same time our communities are already dreading summer bills.
"Cancelling energy debt would give meaningful relief to AGL's customers, helping to push energy bills down for everyone, and only scratch the surface of their mega profits."
Background
Australia's Energy Debt Crisis
Stop The Bill Shock analysis of energy debt in 2025 shows that Australia was in the midst of an energy debt crisis so large it is distorting the energy market and pushing up energy prices for all customers, with more than 1.5 million electricity and gas accounts in arrears at the end of 2025.
The analysis also showed that, at the end of 2025:
- In districts monitored by the AER (New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory), 613,000 electricity and gas accounts were in arrears.
- In non-AER-regulated districts (Victoria, WA, Northern Territory), 618,000 accounts were in arrears.
- 394,000 customers nationally were on a hardship or tailored assistance plan, with an average debt of $1616.
- The number of customers on a hardship or tailored assistance plan had increased by 19.4% since the end of 2024
- In jurisdictions monitored by the AER, the number of accounts referred to debt collection agencies has increased by 53.4% - from 29,772 at the end of 2024 to 45,666
- The total owed by customers, on a hardship plan or with a debt of 90 days or more, exceeded $700 million in AER monitored regions.
Read the full report at: stopthebillshock.org/debt-trap
About Stop The Bill Shock
The Stop the Bill Shock campaign was started by a collective of climate and economic justice organisations, including Antipoverty Centre, Parents for Climate and Sweltering Cities, working and campaigning to make sure energy bills are permanently lowered and that everyone benefits from and is included in the transition to renewables – not just those who can afford home upgrades.
Stop the Bill Shock is calling on energy companies and the federal government to:
- Cancel existing energy debts now
- Bring energy bills down for everyone, forever - by investing more in renewable energy and ensuring the savings are passed onto customers' bills
- End the cycle of debt - with better customer protections and stronger regulations to make the market fairer
- Help households take back control - by expanding funding and support for home upgrades (solar, insulation, efficient heating & cooling) so more homes can cut bills for good.
Learn more at stopthebillshock.org/