My estimated energy bill looks wrong. What can I do?
What the National Energy Retail Rules say when a bill is estimated, how to replace it with your own meter read, and where to escalate.
Usually you can have it replaced. If the bill is an estimate and you have a basic meter, rule 21 of the National Energy Retail Rules lets you send your retailer your own meter read before the due date, and it must promptly issue an adjusted bill at no charge. If it refuses, ask for a bill review under rule 29, then take it to your state energy ombudsman, which is free.
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Ajust writes to the business, tracks the deadline and escalates if they don't fix it.
Can you make your retailer replace an estimated bill?
Yes, in most cases. If your electricity or gas bill is based on an estimate and your meter is a basic (accumulation) meter, you can send the retailer your own read before the due date and it must re-bill you on that read.
The rules are in the National Energy Retail Rules (NERR), rule 21, enforced by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) in NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT. Victoria has a matching clause 59 in the Essential Services Commission's Energy Retail Code of Practice.
A retailer may only estimate when you have agreed to it, when it cannot reasonably or reliably get an actual read, or when the metering data was not provided to it (rule 21(1)). The estimate must be based on your own read, your historical metering data, or a comparable customer's average if you have no history (rule 21(2)). The bill must say it is an estimate (rule 21(3)).
Send a self-read before the due date and the retailer must promptly issue an adjusted bill at no extra charge (rule 21(3D)).
Every estimated bill must tell you in writing that you can do this, and the retailer must publish free guidance on reading and lodging the read (rules 21(3B) and 21(3C)). Where you are standing decides the next move:
- Basic meter, estimate too high. Send a self-read before the due date. The retailer can only reject it if it is late, ignores its guidance, is lower than a previous actual read, or the photo is unclear or shows the wrong meter, and it must give specific reasons in writing (rule 21(3E)).
- Basic meter, estimate too low. The next actual-read bill will catch up. Send the self-read anyway, and you can ask to pay the difference in instalments (rule 21(4)(b)).
- Smart or interval meter, bill still says estimated. The self-read right does not cover interval-metered electricity (rule 21(3A)(b)). Ask for a bill review under rule 29 and ask the retailer to check the metering data.
- Catch-up bill after months of estimates. The retailer can only recover the 9 months before it told you, cannot charge interest, and must offer instalments over up to 12 months, unless the undercharge was your fault, such as a blocked meter (rule 30).
- You overpaid on the estimate. The next actual-read bill must adjust for it (rule 21(4)(a)). An overcharge of $50 or more must be flagged within 10 business days and repaid as you direct (rule 31).
- Victoria. The same self-read right applies (clause 59(5) to (9)). The back-billing limit is tighter: 4 months (clause 70).
Estimates should become rarer. On 28 November 2024 the Australian Energy Market Commission made a final rule requiring universal smart meter deployment across the National Electricity Market by 2030, with the accelerated rollout starting in December 2025. The AER says the target is every customer by 30 November 2030, you cannot refuse a retailer-led installation, there is no upfront charge when the retailer initiates it, and your tariff structure cannot change for 2 years without your consent. Smart meters are read remotely, but when the connection drops retailers still estimate, and the rule 21 self-read right does not cover interval-metered electricity, so the rule 29 review is your tool.
What should you do first?
Step 1: Confirm the bill is an estimate and read your meter today
Look for the word "estimate" or an "E" beside the meter read. Check the meter number on the bill matches the meter on the wall, read it, and photograph the display with the date visible. The steps for each meter type are at how to read your energy meter.
Compare your read with the estimated closing read. Lower means you were overcharged. Higher means the next bill will catch up.
Step 2: Ask in writing and set a deadline
Lodge the read the way the retailer asks, before the due date. AGL and Origin take self-reads through their apps and online accounts; Origin says it adjusts an estimated bill within 5 business days. Then send the same read to the retailer's complaints email or web form so there is a dated record.
Subject: Self-read for estimated bill [bill number], account [account number]
My bill dated [date] is based on an estimated read of [estimated read]. My own read of meter [meter number] on [date] is [your read]. A dated photo is attached.
Under rule 21(3A) and 21(3D) of the National Energy Retail Rules, please issue an adjusted bill based on this read at no extra charge, and confirm the new amount and due date.
If you reject the read, rule 21(3E) requires you to give me the specific reasons in writing. Please respond within 14 days. If the bill is not corrected I will request a review under rule 29 and lodge a complaint with the energy ombudsman.
Step 3: Pay only what is not in dispute
While a bill is under review, the retailer can only require the lesser of the undisputed portion or your average bill over the previous 12 months, plus other bills properly due (rule 29(4)). It must not disconnect you while a complaint about that bill is unresolved with it or the ombudsman (rule 116(1)).
Step 4: Fix access if estimates keep coming
Repeated estimates usually mean the reader could not get in. Clear plants, unlock the gate, secure the dog. The Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON) says the retailer must do its best to get an actual read at least once every 12 months. You can also ask for a special meter read, chargeable only if it shows the bill was right (rule 29(5)).
What if the retailer refuses your read?
Work through these in order. All of them are free.
- Get the rejection in writing. A retailer that rejects a self-read must give specific reasons in writing, offer a process to fix the read, and tell you in the same notice that you can go to the ombudsman and separately request a bill review (rules 21(3E) to 21(3G)). If the problem is a blurry photo or a missed digit, resend a clear, dated photo straight away.
- Request a bill review under rule 29. The retailer must review a bill when you ask and tell you the outcome within the time limits in its own complaints policy (rule 29(1) to (3)). Ask it to check the metering data or test the meter; you only pay for a test if the meter proves accurate (rule 29(5)). A bill found wrong must be adjusted under rule 30 or 31.
- Go to your state energy ombudsman. If the answer is still no, or there is no answer, lodge with the ombudsman for your state: EWON in NSW (1800 246 545), EWOV in Victoria (1800 500 509), EWOQ in Queensland (1800 662 837), EWOSA in South Australia (1800 665 565), Energy Ombudsman Tasmania (1800 001 170), ACAT in the ACT, Ombudsman NT and the WA Energy and Water Ombudsman. The AER's contact list has all of them. In one EWON case, hot water bills were re-billed back to 2018 and the customer credited $940 after the ombudsman found the meter was not recording.
- Report a pattern to the regulator. The AER (the Essential Services Commission in Victoria) does not resolve individual bills, but rules 21(1), 21(2) and 21(3D) are civil penalty provisions, so a report about a retailer that estimates without grounds or ignores self-reads helps it act.
Skip chargebacks and the tribunal: a card reversal does not cancel the debt. If you cannot pay a corrected bill, see falling behind on an energy bill.
Tell Ajust what happened and we do the heavy lifting for you. Emails, calls, escalations until it's resolved. While you get on with your life.
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What doesn't work
- Sending the read after the due date. Rule 21(3E) lets the retailer reject a late read, and you are then waiting for the next actual read.
- A blurry photo or the wrong meter. Those are the two rejection reasons the rules name, so show the full display and the meter number in one shot.
- Including red digits or decimals. A read that is wildly higher than the last actual read looks like an error and will be refused.
- Refusing to pay anything. Rule 29(4) lets the retailer require the undisputed portion or your 12-month average, and withholding everything puts you in arrears.
- Letting access problems run for years. If the meter could not be read because of something you did or did not do, the 9-month back-billing cap does not apply.
Common questions
I have a smart meter. Can I still send a self-read?
No, not for electricity recorded on an interval or smart meter. Rule 21(3A) limits the self-read right to basic meters. If a smart meter bill is still estimated, ask for a bill review under rule 29 and ask the retailer to check the metering data or arrange a manual download.
I already paid the estimated bill. Can I still get it corrected?
Yes, the next bill on an actual read must correct it. The retailer must adjust that bill for any overcharge on the estimate. If the overcharge is $50 or more it must tell you within 10 business days and repay it as you direct, or credit your next bill if you give no direction.
How far back can the retailer bill me after a run of low estimates?
Nine months before the date it notified you, under rule 30, with no interest and instalments over up to 12 months if you ask. In Victoria the limit is 4 months. The cap does not apply if the undercharge was your fault, such as a meter the reader could not reach.
Do I have to pay the bill while the review is running?
Only the part that is not in dispute, or less. The retailer can require the lesser of the undisputed portion or your average bill over the previous 12 months, plus any other bills that are properly due. It must not disconnect you while the complaint is unresolved with it or with the ombudsman.
How long does the retailer have to answer my self-read or review?
The rules do not set a number of days. The retailer must act promptly on a valid self-read and must decide a review within the time limits in its own complaints policy, so ask for that policy. Origin says it adjusts an estimated bill within 5 business days of a valid self-read.
I live in Victoria. Do the same rules apply?
Mostly, yes, under Victoria's own code. The Energy Retail Code of Practice gives Victorians the same self-read right (clause 59), bill review (clause 69) and $50 overcharge rule (clause 71). Back-billing for an undercharge is limited to 4 months rather than 9. Escalate to the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria.
- Australian Energy Market Commission, National Energy Retail Rules, rule 21 Estimation as basis for bills
- Australian Energy Market Commission, National Energy Retail Rules (current version)
- Australian Energy Market Commission, AEMC finalises landmark reform to accelerate smart meter rollout
- Australian Energy Regulator, Consumer rights and smart meters
- Essential Services Commission (Victoria), Energy Retail Code of Practice
- Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW, Estimated bills and meter reading
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