Energex is an Australian-based wholly Queensland Government owned

electricity company An electric utility is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major ...

distributing power to 1.5 million homes and businesses in

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. Th ...

. The boundaries of the company’s distribution area stretch from

Coolangatta Coolangatta is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is the Gold Coast's southernmost suburb and it borders New South Wales. In the , Coolangatta had a population of 5,948 people. Geography Coolangatta and its ...

in the south to

Gympie Gympie ( ) is a city and a locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River, which floods Gympie occasionally. The ...

in the north and as far west as the foothills of the

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

range. Energex’s network includes more than 55,000km of underground and overhead electricity infrastructure servicing city and rural areas in a

sub-tropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north a ...

climate. As part of the Queensland Government's announcement of the merger of Energex and

Ergon Energy Ergon Energy Network is a subsidiary company oEnergy Queensland Limited (EQL) a Government owned corporation owned by the Government of Queensland. It distributes electricity to around 763,000 customers across Queensland, excluding South East Qu ...

, a parent company - Energy Queensland - was formed and commenced operations on 30 June 2016. Energy Queensland's headquarters is based in

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

History

The earliest permanent electricity supplies in Brisbane were provided by Barton, White & Company, from 1887; this became known as Brisbane Electric Supply Company in 1904, and in 1922 was renamed the City Electric Light Company (CEL). For more than three decades, CEL competed with other electricity suppliers in South East Queensland, especially the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...

(BCC) Electricity Supply Department. In 1961, the Queensland government

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

CEL and merged it with both the BCC Electricity Supply and Toowoomba Electric Light & Power Company. The merged entity was known initially as Southern Electric Authority of Queensland (SEAQ). The organisation, which was the sole provider of electricity in SEQ, was known between 1977 and 1997 as the South East Queensland Electricity Board (SEQEB). Following the formation of the

National Electricity Market The National Electricity Market (NEM) is an arrangement in Australia's electricity sector for the connection of the electricity transmission grids of the eastern and southern Australia states and territories to create a cross-state wholesale el ...

(NEM), SEQEB was corporatised in 1997, and renamed Energex then established itself as a multi-utility provider, supplying electricity and LPG and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...

. In 2006, Energex sold its gas distribution network (Allgas) in southeast Queensland to

Australian Pipeline Trust APA Group is a company in Australia which owns and operates natural gas and electricity assets. It is Australia's largest natural gas infrastructure business. It was founded in 2000, when spun off from the Australian Gas Light Company and l ...

for $521 million. The electricity distribution network remains in public ownership. In 2014, a whistleblower made allegations against Energex that prompted a federal parliamentary inquiry into whether data had been manipulated to artificially inflate power prices.

Retail operations sale

Sun Retail, the retail arm of Energex, was sold at auction to Origin Energy Ltd for A$1.2 billion. The sale was formally effected in early 2007. Origin Energy purchased a customer base of approximately 800,000 from the New South Wales border to a line just north of the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the ...

(mostly following

Kedron Brook The Kedron Brook is a creek that flows through the northern suburbs of Brisbane in the south-east region of Queensland, Australia. Course and features Formed by spring D'Aguilar Range within the southern portion of the D'Aguilar National Park ...

), whilst

AGL Energy AGL Energy Ltd () is an Australian listed public company involved in both the generation and retailing of electricity and gas for residential and commercial use. AGL is Australia's largest electricity generator, and the nation's largest carb ...

purchased a customer base of the remaining approximately 400,000 customers north from this line to Gympie and the Sunshine Coast. Full retail contestability since 1 July 2007 allows electricity customers to choose their electricity retailer. About 19 new retailers (including Origin and AGL) have entered into the Queensland market.

Queensland Government Merger Electricity Distribution Businesses

When Labor won the Queensland State election in late 2015, the Government announced that rather than a sale of the State owned electricity assets, the two State distributors, Energex and Ergon Energy would merge into a single entity - to be known as Energy Queensland. This merger was completed on 30 June 2016, however the separate branding of the two distribution companies continue. The corporate head office was located in Townsville, Qld as part of a jobs drive for the North Qld regions.

Energex Service

Energex provides a 24-hour emergency phone service, to report life-threatening emergencies and fallen powerlines on 13 19 62. A loss of supply enquiry line also operates 24 hours a day on 13 62 62. General enquiries can be made via their Contact Centre on 13 12 53 between 7am - 5.30pm Monday-Friday. They also have a Facebook and Twitter feed which is regularly updated, particularly during storm events and other large scale disaster incidents.

References

External links