Drought relief

If you're a farmer in a drought affected area, we may be able to help.

We offer drought relief to help ease the pressure, with waived charges and deferred payments on eligible electricity accounts.

Who is eligible for drought relief?

You can apply to us for drought relief if you:

Are an Ergon Energy Retail customer
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
Are experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the drought.

Drought declarations are made through 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?

Deferred payments

If drought impacts are causing financial difficulty, you may be able to defer payments on electricity accounts used for farming purposes.

You may apply if you:

Are in a drought‑declared area or individually drought‑declared
Have little or no access to irrigation or farm water
Are experiencing financial hardship because of the drought.

You can request a deferral period of up to 12 months. This may be extended if:

You’re contributing to repayments of the deferred amount
You are engaging with Ergon Energy Queensland Pty Ltd about your payment options
You continue to pay for future energy usage charges.

You may need to provide evidence of financial difficulty, such as a statement of financial position prepared and certified by a financial counsellor, financial adviser, bank or accountant.

Waiver of fixed charges

You may be able to have the fixed charge components of your electricity account waived if:

Your farm is in a drought‑declared area or individually drought‑declared
And you have little or no access to irrigation or farm water.

How to apply

To apply, simply complete our online drought relief application form.

Prefer a paper form? Download the drought relief application form (PDF 237.3 kb), then print, complete and post it to us using the details on the form.

Need a hand with your application? Call our regional Queensland team on 13 10 46.