Retailer and energy generator Origin Energy - which accounts for around a quarter of retail electricity and gas companies announced a full-year net profit of $1.159 billion. This is the fourth year in a row the company has reported a profit of over $1 billion.
However, this mammoth profit has once again come at the expense of their customers, who are being squeezed by even increasing energy bills, which have pushed more households into energy debt over the past 12 months.
Figures from the Australian Energy Regulator, which reports on retailer performance in NSW, SA, QLD, ACT & TAS. show that more than 121,000 Origin Energy customers had outstanding electricity bills at the end of March 2026. The number of electricity customers on a formal hardship debt repayment plan also increased more than 40% compared to the previous year - from 31,960 to 45,576. While the average debt they owed increased by $828 (63%) from $1302 in Q3 FY2025 to $2130 in Q3 FY2026.
In response to this record profit announcement from Origin Energy, 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:
"Origin Energy has been making absolutely obscene amounts of profit over the past four years while failing to do anything meaningful to lower energy bills and help their customers that are drowning in debt. Instead they keep taking every opportunity to increase power prices and power bills to record highs, boosting their profits. At the same time, thousands of their customers struggle to afford basic essentials like food, housing and healthcare.
"Australians aren't stupid - they know that greedy energy companies are a big reason why energy bills continue to rise, even while wholesale electricity prices get cheaper. They also know there is currently no incentive for companies to stop pushing bills up, which means that unless the government steps in, bills will continue to rise and rise.
"Clearly, the energy market is fundamentally broken. We can no longer afford to do nothing and hope that it fixes itself, or that profit-seeking energy companies like Origin grow a conscience. It is not good enough to tell struggling people that the only way to lower their energy bill is by reducing their already minimal energy use or "shopping around". We need real solutions that will force profiteering energy companies to meaningfully reduce energy bills and free households from debt traps."
Nic Seton, CEO for Parents for Climate, said:
"Two years ago we asked Origin, and Australia's other major energy retailer AGL, to show some compassion and give families struggling with debt some much-needed relief, but they prioritised their profits instead. That's why we are now calling on the Federal Government to step in and take real action to lower bills and help families escape energy debt for good.
"Around 1.5 million Australian households have an outstanding energy bill. This is not an isolated problem, and it's not the result of personal failure. It's the result of a broken and unfair energy system which puts the profits of a handful of rich companies and their shareholders above the wellbeing of everyone else.
"There are real things the Government can, and must, do to fix this crisis - ensuring the savings from renewable energy are passed through to energy bills and supporting more households to access solar and batteries and upgrade the energy efficiency of their homes could help bring bills down for everyone."
Emma Bacon, Executive Director of Sweltering Cities, said:
"This month many Australian households will receive what could be their highest power bill ever - thanks to a combination of cold winter weather and greedy energy companies who have failed once again to share the benefit of lower wholesale energy prices. And with a long and hot summer expected, it's unlikely to be the last time families will experience bill shock this year.
"During extremely hot or cold weather, the ability to keep your home at a safe temperature can be a matter of life and death. But too many families are being forced to risk their health and wellbeing, simply because they can't afford to pay to run their heating or air conditioning.
"We cannot afford to wait and hope that lower wholesale power prices 'trickle through' to customer energy bills. The government must take decisive action to ensure families already squeezed by the cost of living aren't saddled with energy debt just for keeping themselves cool and safe this summer. To stop debt from spiralling further out of control and pushing up bills for everyone, the government must take the burden of existing debts away from struggling families, allowing them to wipe the slate clean and ending the cycle for good."
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/