Small business rebates

About the Small Business Rebates

WHEN WILL THE REBATES BE PAID? DO I NEED TO APPLY?

The Queensland Government Small Business Rebate was applied as a single lump sum credit from July 2024 and would have appeared as a separate credit on your electricity bill issued after this date.

The Commonwealth Government Small Business Rebate was split into $81.25 instalments and automatically applied over the course of 2024-25 on a quarterly basis. Quarterly instalment dates – July 2024, October 2024, January 2025 & April 2025.

HOW WILL I KNOW THE REBATES HAVE BEEN CREDITED TO MY BILL?

The Queensland Government Small Business Rebate will appear on bills issued after July 2024. You’ll see the credit under the “New Credits” section of your bill with the wording “Queensland Govt Small Business Rebate”.

The Commonwealth Government Small Business Rebate will appear on the “New Credits” section of your bill with the wording “Australian Govt Energy Price Relief Plan Rebate”.

NOTE: You may see the credit before your bill is issued if logging into My Account. Please ensure you pay the total amount on your current bill.

WILL THE REBATES AFFECT MY OTHER ENERGY REBATES?

No. The rebates were provided to all eligible small businesses and do not affect customers’ eligibility for any other energy rebates.

I HAVE A PAYMENT EXTENSION. DOES THIS AFFECT MY PAYMENTS?

The rebates do not impact payment arrangements already in place. Please continue to make payments to your account as per your agreed payment schedule.

I HAVE A SMOOTHPAY. DOES THIS AFFECT MY PAYMENTS?

The rebates do not impact SmoothPay arrangements already in place. Please continue to make payments to your account as per your agreed payment schedule.

I HAVE AN OVERDUE ACCOUNT ON MY RECENT ELECTRICITY BILL, AM I STILL ELIGIBLE?

Yes. All eligible small businesses were automatically provided with the rebates, regardless of the account balance.

WILL THE REBATES AFFECT MY SOLAR FEED-IN TARIFF?

No. You’ll have received the rebates in addition to any solar feed-in tariff you may have received.

WILL I STILL RECEIVE THE REBATES IF MY ACCOUNT IS IN CREDIT?

Yes. The rebates were still applied for customers in credit. Any remaining rebate credits are to be carried over to future bills.

CAN I HAVE THE REBATES PAID TO MY BUSINESS DIRECTLY, RATHER THAN MY ELECTRICITY BILL?

No. The rebates are intended to assist small businesses with electricity costs and therefore were only applied on electricity bills.

CAN I HAVE THE SMALL BUSINESS REBATES REFUNDED TO ME?

If you’re in credit the rebates are to be carried over to future bills.

You can obtain a refund of the rebates if:

• You're finalising your account, will no longer hold any active account with Ergon Energy Retail and your account is in credit
• You have solar and are regularly in credit. In this case you're eligible for a full refund, inclusive of the rebate.  This is included as part of your annual solar refund.
• You have an active Direct Debit that results in your bills being regularly in credit.

WHAT IF I CLOSE MY ACCOUNT AFTER THE REBATES HAVE BEEN APPLIED TO THE BILL? WHAT HAPPENS IF I AM IN CREDIT ON MY FINAL BILL?

You can receive a refund of the credit if you no longer hold any active account with Ergon Energy Retail and your account is in credit.

DOES GST APPLY TO THE SMALL BUSINESS REBATES?

No. The rebate credits are not taxable or relevant for GST purposes.

IF I OWN A SMALL BUSINESS THAT HAS MULTIPLE SITES WILL THE REBATES BE APPLIED TO EACH SITE?

No. Please refer to the separate Small Businesses with Multiple Sites FAQ.

I DON’T RECEIVE A SEPARATE ELECTRICITY BILL, WILL I STILL GET THE REBATES?

No. Customers must be separately billed for their electricity supply/consumption and have an active account.

Eligibility

WHICH BUSINESSES ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE THE REBATES?

• To be eligible for the rebates, a business must meet Queensland’s statutory small business electricity usage criteria (i.e. consumption less than 100MWh per annum) on 1 July 2024 and be separately metered for their electricity consumption
• The rebates will be applied on a per customer basis. For multi-site businesses, eligibility is based on the overall electricity consumption of all accounts held by the customer (rather than on a site by site basis)
• A customer running a small business out of their residential address will not be eligible for the rebates unless the business’ consumption is separately metered (i.e. on a small business tariff). Where consumption is on a residential tariff, they will not be eligible for the small business rebates
• To be eligible for the Queensland Government Small Business Rebate, a small business must have an active account on 1 July 2024
• To be eligible for the Commonwealth Government Small Business Rebate, a small business must have an active account on the relevant instalment dates.

ARE ANY BUSINESSES EXCLUDED FROM RECEIVING THE REBATES?

Yes. The following types of businesses are NOT eligible for the rebates, irrespective of their consumption level, as the nature of the business does not fit within the intent of the small business rebates:

• banks and financial institutions (e.g. branches, ATMs)
• utilities (e.g. gas and water), including telcos (e.g. Telstra shops) and rail (e.g. train stations)
• government-owned agencies, government-owned sites at federal, state and local level (e.g. Centrelink, council-owned libraries and pools)
• post offices
• health funds (e.g. BUPA and Medibank stores)

Embedded network operators are asked to use their best endeavours to ensure the rebates are not applied to these types of businesses.

Small businesses with embedded networks

AM I ELIGIBLE FOR THE REBATES IF I RECEIVE MY ELECTRICITY BILL FROM A BODY CORPORATE OR A SITE MANAGER?

Not all small businesses have an account with an electricity retailer. In some situations, a landlord, lessor, management corporation or an entity contracted by these parties buys electricity in bulk and on-sells this to small businesses based on how much they consume.  This is most common in shopping centres, office buildings and industrial parks.

On-supply customers could also receive the small business rebates. Arrangements are in place such that embedded network operators could receive credits on their electricity bills for the number of eligible small businesses they manage, and pass each rebate to the small businesses as part of their next bill.

WILL THE REBATES BE APPLIED QUARTERLY OR AS A ONE-OFF CREDIT?

The Queensland Government Small Business Rebate and Commonwealth Government Small Business Rebate were paid as one-off lump sum credits ($325 and $325) to small businesses who were eligible for the rebates on 1 July 2024. If you didn't receive this assistance by 31 December 2024, please contact your embedded network operator.

WILL I RECEIVE THE REBATES IF I AM IN AN EMBEDDED NETWORK AND OPEN A NEW ACCOUNT AFTER 1 JULY 2024?

No. To be eligible for the rebate, small businesses in an embedded network must have had an active electricity account on 1 July 2024.

Embedded network owners

WHAT ACTION DO OPERATORS OR OWNERS OF EMBEDDED ELECTRICITY NETWORKS NEED TO TAKE?

The Queensland Government asked all embedded network owners to notify their electricity retailer as early as possible after 1 July 2024 of the number of eligible tenants they had in their embedded network on 1 July 2024, using the relevant forms to ensure their embedded network customers were provided with the Small Business Rebates in a timely manner.

The Queensland Government Small Business Rebate and Commonwealth Government Small Business Rebate were paid as one-off lump sum credits ($325 and $325) by the embedded network operator on the customer's electricity bill. To be eligible, a small business customer must have had an active account with their embedded network operator on 1 July 2024.

Embedded network operators needed to submit the relevant forms to their retailer notifying them of the number of eligible tenants they had in their embedded network on 1 July 2024. Form 540 for the Commonwealth rebate, and Form 542 for the Queensland Government rebate are available to download from the Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety website.

If you’re one of our embedded network customers, you’ll need to:

• Complete Form 540 & Form 542
• Return the form to Ergon Energy Retail as soon as possible after 1 July to rebates@ergon.com.au

Once the form is completed and returned, we will provide a bulk credit to you (i.e. $325 x number of small business tenants and $325 x number of small business tenants). You must then provide the relevant Small Business Rebates to tenants on their next bill.  Failure to pass on the dividend to tenants is a breach of condition 12 of your retail exemption conditions with the Australian Energy Regulator.

Each rebate should appear as a separate line item:

• The Queensland Small Business Rebate should appear as a separate line item credit of $325 with the following wording: “Queensland Govt Small Business Rebate”, or similar.
• The Commonwealth Rebate should appear as a separate line item credit of $325 with the following wording: “Australian Govt Energy Price Relief Plan Rebate”, or similar.

We understand that some exempt sellers engage a third-party meter reading and billing service. In this case you may wish to contact your third-party provider for assistance.

If a correction is required after the lodgement of claims by the embedded network operator, this can be completed at a later date. In this situation, embedded network operators are to notify their retailer and submit a reconciliation claim using the same form with only the reconciliation numbers (i.e. the number of tenants for which a claim was originally made, and the updated number of tenants). A statement should be included on the form clearly stating if the claim is for additional rebates, or for the return of excess rebates.

Sole traders

I’M A SOLE TRADER OPERATING MY BUSINESS FROM HOME, AM I ELIGIBLE FOR THE REBATES?

Where a sole trader is operating a business from home and their usage is separately metered (i.e. on a small business tariff), they will be eligible for the rebates.

Where their usage is on a residential tariff, they will not be eligible for the rebates.

I’M A SOLE TRADER ON A RESIDENTIAL TARIFF IN AN EMBEDDED NETWORK, AM I ELIGIBLE FOR THE REBATES?

No. A similar process applies to residential sole traders who reside in an embedded network. As the sole trader is on a residential tariff, they will not qualify for the small business rebates.

Small businesses with multiple sites

I AM A SMALL BUSINESS WITH MULTIPLE SITES/PREMISES. WILL THE REBATES BE APPLIED TO EACH SITE?

No. The rebates were applied on a per customer basis. Therefore a small business customer that has multiple sites will receive one Queensland Government and one Commonwealth Government rebate, provided total consumption across all sites is less than 100MWh per annum.

Any eligible small business customer who has multiple sites and did not receive the rebates as an automatic credit on any of their accounts should contact their retailer or embedded network operator to discuss their eligibility. If an eligible small business with multiple sites received the rebates on one of their accounts, they are not eligible for a rebates on their other accounts.

NOTE: Some small businesses are not billed directly by a retailer or embedded network operator (e.g. some franchisees), so they may not be identified to receive the rebates initially. These small businesses are encouraged to contact their billing provider and can be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.