Who is eligible for drought relief?
You can apply for drought relief if you:
- are a customer of Ergon Energy Retail
- are a farmer of a property that has been individually drought-declared or is within a drought-declared area
- have no water to pump or severely restricted access to water
- complete and submit a Drought Relief application form (PDF 123.4 kb).
A declaration of drought must be made under a Queensland Government administrative process.
For more information about drought declarations, visit the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries website.
If you’re not an Ergon Energy Retail customer, you can apply online through the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy.
What drought relief is available?
Waived charges
If you are mainly using electricity to pump water for farm or irrigation purposes, Ergon Energy will waive the fixed charges on your account. These include annual fixed charges under Tariff 66, service fees and minimum payments. They don’t include minimum demand charges. The waiver will continue until the drought declaration has been revoked.
Deferred payments
If you are experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the drought, you can defer payments on electricity accounts that are used for farming purposes. The option to defer will continue until the drought declaration has been revoked. When that happens, repayment terms will be arranged on a case-by-case basis.
How to apply for drought relief?
To apply for drought relief you should:
- Complete an application: Download the Drought Relief application form (PDF 123.4 kb). Attach any required supporting documents.
- Submit your request: You can apply by email, fax or post using the instructions provided on the application form.
How will I know if my application has been successful?
Ergon Energy will endeavour to post the outcome of your application within five working days from the date they receive your completed application form.
Please note: Due to recent Drought Declaration Announcements they are currently receiving a high volume of Drought Relief Applications and are experiencing some delays with processing.
