Energy Bill Relief - households

The Australian and Northern Territory (NT) governments are jointly funding electricity bill relief.

If eligible, households can get relief on power bills of up to $350.

If you are a small business, check if you are eligible for electricity relief.

Check if you are eligible

To be eligible, you must be the person named on your household electricity, and one of the following:

• an NT Concessions Scheme member
• living in an eligible remote community
  • eligible communities are those that are Indigenous Essential Services customers
• living in a household with a prepaid electricity meter
• receiving another eligible benefit.

Other eligible benefits include:

• all other Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) gold cards
• Carer Allowance
• Seniors Health Card
• Family Tax Benefit
• Health Care Card
• Low Income Health Care Card.

The Energy Bill Relief is different to the NT Concession Scheme electricity concession .

Check what group applies to you

Bill relief will be applied depending on how you meet eligibility.

That will determine what, if anything, you need to do to access energy bill relief and when you can expect it.

Group 1

This group applies if you are:

• a current NT Concessions Scheme member and a named electricity account holder for your household or
• living in an eligible remote community.

For this group, you don’t need to do anything. Your bill relief will be processed from:

• August 2023 for NT Concessions Scheme members
• the second half of 2023 for Indigenous Essential Services (IES) remote community households, depending on location.

When you can expect bill relief

For NT Concession Scheme members who receive a regular electricity bill, the following applies:

• a $350 credit
• applied in quarterly instalments across your billing cycle for the 2023-24 financial year.

Your energy provider will calculate this for you and apply the appropriate credit to your bills.

For NT Concession Scheme members who have a prepaid electricity meter, your energy retailer will apply 2 instalments of $175 bill relief:

• one in August 2023
• one in January 2024

For customers living in an Indigenous Essential Services (IES) remote community households, you will receive a once-off instalment of $350 applied directly to your meter.

When you receive this will depend where you live. Call 1800 296 900 for more information on your community.

Group 2

You are in group 2 if you don't fall into the above category, but you receive another eligible benefit such as:

• Carer Allowance
• Seniors Health Card
• Family Tax Benefit
• Health Care Card
• Low Income Health Care Card
• all other DVA gold cards not covered by the NT Concession Scheme.

Services Australia or the DVA contacted you in September 2023.

You will need to 'opt in' to access Energy Bill Relief.

Services Australia will ask you to fill in an online form in myGov to complete the opt-in process, which includes:

• consenting to sharing your information with the NT Energy Bill Relief team
• providing your electricity account number (if you have one).

If you hold a DVA benefit

If you hold a DVA benefit, you will need to contact the team with your:

• unique identification number or veteran file number and
• consent for the team to check your eligibility for bill relief.

You must opt in before 31 March 2024.

When you can expect bill relief

Once you have opted in, your eligibility will be confirmed and the bill relief will be spread across your billing cycle per quarter for the remainder of the 2023-24 financial year.

Your energy provider will calculate this for you and apply the appropriate bill relief to your bills.

Group 3

You are in group 3 if your household receives electricity by a prepaid meter.

For this group, you don’t need to do anything.

Your bill relief will be applied directly to your prepaid meter in 2 instalments of $175:

• first instalment of bill relief will be applied to your meter in December 2023
• second instalment of bill relief will be applied to your meter in June 2024.

Bill relief will be applied directly by your electricity provider.

Alternative energy or embedded network

If you receive energy through an alternative energy source or reside in an embedded network such as a caravan park, you will need to contact the NT Energy Bill Relief team before 31 March 2024.

To receive the once off payment of $350, you must:

• meet the eligibility criteria for either Group 1 or Group 2
• provide bank details to deposit the energy bill relief into your bank account
• submit evidence of your electricity use and proof of payment from 1 July 2023, including:
  • A tax compliant invoice, stating the principal place of residence where the electricity is consumed and
  • A receipt or bank statement showing payment by the applicant for the electricity supply.

To apply, fill in the application for alternative energy form PDF (677.1 KB).

Contact

You can contact the Energy Bill Relief team by:

• calling 1800 296 900
• emailing ntenergy.billrelief@nt.gov.au
• finding your nearest NT Concession and Recognition Unit.