May 27, 2026 — 4:56pmEnergy retailers will be forced to cut power prices for Victorians who live in apartments or townhouses and are locked into contracts that cover entire buildings.About 174,000 households and 20,000 small businesses are connected to “embedded networks” – a private energy network with one supplier serving multiple properties, leaving those customers unable to shop around for better deals.Embedded networks have locked in apartment owners to energy retailers for decades. Eamon GallagherVictoria banned developers from striking embedded network deals on most new apartments in 2022, unless they met renewable energy standards.On Wednesday, the state government announced it would force retailers to cut prices for existing embedded network customers – but some strata owners say existing agreements need to be terminated early to prevent price gouging.Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said that from July 1 next year, embedded network electricity and gas retailers would have to lower their prices to align with the cheapest market offers available in Victoria.“We know that people living in apartments and retirement villages and caravan parks, they were supposed to get cheaper energy bills by living in private embedded networks. That just hasn’t happened,” D’Ambrosio said.“Big energy retail companies… have actually grown more and more in the profits that they’ve been making from households and from small businesses that are stuck on their embedded networks.”D’Ambrosio said that households could save up to $250 a year and businesses could save up to $600 a year just from their electricity bills under the policy.The new price caps will apply to both electricity and gas retailers. Electricity prices have been capped at the benchmark Victorian Default Offer price since 2019, which D’Ambrosio said has already saved households around $370 a year.Adam Promnitz from the Strata Owners Alliance said the price cap policy would not solve the problems with embedded networks because of the difficulty governments face setting and maintaining “market” pricing.“It’s a Band-Aid solution to a systemic problem which has locked owners in as second-class citizens and don’t have access to the same consumer choice as every other Victorian,” he said.Promnitz said Victoria needed to phase out or shorten existing embedded network contracts, some of which are for 25-year terms.“The fundamental problem is they have a monopoly and they can extort owners for decades,” he said.Promnitz noted the new price cap policy would not apply to other charges owners and tenants faced in some buildings, such as a per-litre fee for using hot water. Tenants, especially, rented out apartments unaware they could end up paying $50 to $100 a month more on utilities than they expected, he said.Victoria’s energy price regulator, the Essential Services Commission, announced over the weekend that the default electricity price will be reduced by an average of 5 per cent for residential properties next financial year, due to lower environmental, network and wholesale electricity costs.The Australian Energy Council, which represents power retailers, and the Property Council, which represents developers, both declined to comment.Get the day’s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter.From our partners