Article: Beyond the Bill: How energy retailers are rebuilding trust

By Kirstin Crothers

Trust in energy retailers has never been more fragile. With rising bills, complex tariffs, and heightened regulatory scrutiny, households are questioning whether their providers have their best interests at heart. At the same time, the energy transition is reshaping how consumers generate, store, and use energy, placing new expectations on retailers to adapt quickly.

Leading energy professionals are exploring ways to rebuild confidence while maintaining fairness, transparency, and profitability. Their insights fall into four key areas: embedding fairness and compassion, reimagining pricing, building long-term relationships, and aligning culture with the energy transition.

Embedding fairness, transparency, and compassion

For many households, energy bills are a source of stress, particularly for vulnerable consumers. Rebuilding trust begins with more than just billing; it requires empathy and clear communication.

Zyl Hovenga-Wauchope, Chief Executive Officer of Financial Counselling Victoria, said, "Financial counsellors see daily the toll that energy bills take on vulnerable households. Rebuilding trust requires retailers to move beyond transactional billing and strict scripts. Instead, retailers must embed fairness, transparency, and compassion into every customer interaction supported by corporate values and culture that prioritises good practice. Clear, jargon-free communication helps people understand their options, while early, proactive engagement with those showing signs of hardship can prevent crisis."

Jo De Silva, General Manager Retail Policy at the Australian Energy Council, echoed this, saying, "Trust is regained when people feel seen, supported, and guided—proving that care and customisation are as vital as price in today’s energy market."

Hayden Barry, Managing Director of Nectr, described his company’s approach: "At Nectr, we understand customer trust and loyalty is a valuable asset that needs to be nurtured and retained. From creating fair and sustainable energy solutions, through to transparent billing, we take a customer-first approach to build and grow customer trust."

Reimagining pricing as a platform for empowerment

Pricing is one of the most visible ways retailers interact with customers, yet it can also erode trust if it feels unpredictable or opaque. Many retailers are experimenting with new models designed to empower households.

Sabiene Heindl, Chief Executive Officer of the Energy Charter, said, "Pricing can unlock value, not just recover costs. Our pricing modelling demonstrated that well-designed tariffs, when paired with innovative retail offerings, can deliver both lower system costs and better outcomes for customers." *

She highlighted that simplicity and fairness are critical, noting, "Customers spend on average just 7 minutes per year thinking about energy. In that small window, they need confidence that what they see on their bill is fair, predictable, and easy to understand."

Amber Electric takes transparency to a new level. Tim Barson, Strategic Partnerships, said, "Amber was created to bring transparency to energy retail, and align the customers desires with ours - lower energy bills. Instead of making money on all the energy our customers consume, and keeping them in the dark about how the energy market works, we pass through wholesale energy prices directly to customers. Our AI platform manages batteries and EVs automatically, shifting usage to cheap, renewable periods and selling back when prices are high."

Building long-term, service-centric relationships

In a competitive market, long-term relationships are essential. Retailers are focusing on service, responsiveness, and proactive support to keep customers engaged.

Todd Pemberton, General Manager Retail at Pacific Blue Australia, said, "As an essential service we have not only a legal, but a moral obligation to protect the most vulnerable customers in society. Customers need to trust that they have power when they need it and at a reasonable price. However, they also need to trust that if something goes wrong or they need support, that we are there for them."

He added, "Proactively creating feedback loops allows us to address customer concerns before they escalate and continuously reduce issues. Ultimately, we need to do this in an efficient manner to keep service high and costs down for all consumers."

Barry from Nectr described a similar approach: "We proactively offer hardship support for those experiencing financial challenges. Reaching out to customers with a solution before they contact us wherever possible is a big part of this. Our knowledgeable customer service team is on call to help answer any usage, billing or product questions, plus our online blogs and social media channels keep our customers up to date on latest products, incentives and product updates as they arise."

Aligning industry culture with the energy transition

Consumers are driving the energy transition, but industry and regulatory frameworks have been slow to catch up, creating confusion and further eroding trust.

Gavin Dufty, National Director, Energy Policy and Research, National Council St. Vincent de Paul Society Australia, said, "The energy transition is being driven and shaped by households, from uptake of solar, and batteries, and EV and energy efficiency, switching fuels like getting off gas and the more mundane things like switching energy retailer energy plans. All of this is driving the energy transition. Consumers are the engine room of the transition much of this actively supported by government. However, at the same the energy industry and its institutions such as regulatory frameworks, that have developed over the past 30 years, in my opinion, are being slow to adapt. This is leading to fracture points and confusion these are eroding what are already low levels of trust. We need to reassess the current industry culture and regulatory frameworks to create a new energy paradigm."

Retailers that align their culture with these changes, prioritising transparency and customer empowerment, are better positioned to earn trust while supporting the transition.

The road ahead

Rebuilding trust in energy retail requires more than marketing campaigns or one-off initiatives. It demands fairness, empathy, transparent pricing, consistent service, and alignment with the energy transition.

As Heindl put it, "Trust grows when customers believe the system is working with them rather than around them."

For retailers, the challenge—and the opportunity—is clear. By designing offers, communication, and support systems that empower and protect customers, they can foster loyalty, strengthen confidence, and position themselves as partners in a cleaner, fairer, and more transparent energy future.

Please click here for more information on the Energy Charter’s #BetterTogether Customer-Led Tariffs initiative.

Want to learn more?

Join Zyl Hovenga-Wauchope, Sabiene Heindl, Todd Pemberton, Gavin Dufty, Jo De Silva, Tim Barson, Hayden Barry and a host of other industry thought-leaders at the Energy Retail Excellence 2025 conference.