Drought relief
If you're a farmer living in a drought affected area, we may be able to help. We offer drought relief in the form of waived charges and deferred payments.
Who is eligible for drought relief?
You can apply to us for drought relief if you:
- are a customer of Ergon Energy Retail
- are a farmer of a property that has been individually drought declared or is within a drought declared area
- have no water to pump or severely restricted access to water
A declaration of drought must be made under a Queensland Government administrative process.
For more information about drought declarations, visit the Business Queensland website.
If you're not an Ergon Energy Retail customer, you can apply online through the Queensland Government.
What drought relief is available?
Waived charges
If you're a farmer located in a drought declared area or whose property is individually declared and don't have access to, or have severely restricted access to, farm or irrigation water, you may apply for a waiver of fixed charge components of your electricity account/s.
To apply, simply complete our Drought Relief - Waiver of Fixed Charges form (PDF 1.1 mb) and submit your request by email, fax or post using the instructions provided on the application form.
If you need help completing your application form, please call us on 13 10 46 (8am - 5pm, Mon – Fri).
Deferred payments
If you're experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the drought, you can defer payments on electricity accounts that are used for farming purposes.
If you're a farmer in a drought declared area or whose property is individually drought declared and don't have access to or have severely restricted access to farm or irrigation water, and experiences financial difficulties as a result of the drought, you may apply to defer payment of your electricity accounts relating to farm or irrigation usage.
- The eligible customer may apply for a deferral period of 12 months, which may be extended by Ergon Energy Queensland Pty Ltd, taking into consideration whether the customer is contributing to repayments of the accrued debt and/or the customer is experiencing Payment Difficulty
- Supporting evidence of experiencing financial difficulties in the form of a statement of financial position prepared and certified by a financial counsellor/advisor/bank/accountant is required
- Ongoing bill deferrals are subject to the customer engaging with Ergon Energy Queensland Pty Ltd regarding repayment of the deferred amount plus the payment of any future energy usages charges.
To apply, simply complete our Drought Relief – Deferral of Payment form (PDF 875.6 kb) and submit your request by email, fax or post using the instructions provided on the application form.
If you need help completing your application form, please call us on 13 10 46 (8am - 5pm, Mon – Fri).
How will I know if my application has been successful?
We'll endeavour to post or email you the outcome of your application within five business days from the date we receive your completed application form.
Need some more help?
Our drought relief FAQs (PDF 48.4 kb) can help with answers to other commonly asked questions.