I am advised:

The Government provides help for households that are facing energy bill stress through the Energy Bill Relief Package, announced in September last year.

From 1 July 2017 there was a 20 per cent increase to all energy rebates as part of the Energy Bill Relief Package. Rebates include the Low Income Household Energy Rebate, the Family Energy Rebate, the Gas and LPG Rebate, the Medical Energy Rebate, Energy Accounts Payment Assistance and Life Support Rebate.

The Government has abolished some key retailer fees, putting the needs of the customer first. This includes removal of retailer early termination fees, fees when paying bills over the counter at Australia Post and fees for choosing to receive paper bills. This also includes retailers charging customers leaving electricity and gas contracts before their end-date, and the recovery of upfront benefits for signing the original contract. This means that customers are free to leave expensive contracts to find a better deal.

The Energy Bill Relief Package will also assist households and small businesses when upgrading to energy efficient appliances and equipment.

For households, the Government has the appliance replacement offer, which helps homes in need by providing discounts when replacing old appliances with new energy efficient appliances. We also help households to save on their energy consumption with LED efficient lighting. Customers can gain a discount of about $150 to replace their lights with the latest LED technology, with the help of a service provider that is accredited by the Government. LEDs use 90 per cent less power than traditional light bulbs, this can provide households with up to $2,100 of energy savings over the lifetime of the lights.

The Government also provides assistance to New South Wales small businesses to replace their appliances with high energy rating equipment and upgrading their lighting to LED technology to help them save money on energy bills, be more energy efficient and at the same time help the environment.

More information on these schemes is available at www.energyaffordability.nsw.gov.au.

The Government is also working with other states and the Commonwealth through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Energy Council to enact national market reforms. These reforms would provide certainty to the national market, encourage investment and reduce wholesale prices.