Victorian Controlled Load Electricity Concession

Who Can Claim It

The rule is a sibling of the Annual Electricity Concession in the VIC Electricity Concession parent cluster but with a deliberately narrower gate - DFFH has long treated controlled load as a luxury circuit (slab heating, multi-tank hot water) rather than a base-load survival cost, hence the smaller card list and lower percentage.

Four conditions must all pass:

• Victorian residency - state = VIC.
• Qualifying concession card - concession_card_type IN {pensioner_concession_card, dva_gold_card}. Health Care Card holders are explicitly excluded from this rule even though they qualify for the 17.5% Annual Concession.
• Named account holder - electricity_bill_account_holder = true.
• Controlled load tariff active - has_controlled_load_tariff = true. The retailer's billing system must show a separate controlled load (off-peak) tariff with its own usage and supply lines.

The excludes.any block is empty; the conflicts list is empty too. There is no rule that disables this one. It stacks freely with the Annual Electricity Concession (different tariff portions of the same bill), with the Medical Cooling Concession (which targets the cooling-season general tariff), and with the federal Energy Bill Relief Fund when active.

What You Get

The amount is a percentage rebate of 13% applied to the controlled load tariff. Mechanics:

• Discount base = controlled load usage (kWh × off-peak rate) + controlled load supply charges, less any retailer marketing discount that explicitly applies to off-peak. Unlike the Annual Concession there is no $171.60 carve-out; the percentage runs on the first cent.
• Concession value = controlled load base × 13%. The retailer credits each quarterly bill with its share of the year's value, calculated against that quarter's off-peak consumption.
• No annual cap. A house with a 400-litre electric tank serving four occupants and hydronic slab heating runs much higher controlled load consumption than a one-bedroom flat with a small instantaneous gas booster, and the rebate scales accordingly.

Worked example: Dante, 58, a DVA Gold Card holder in Geelong, has a four-bedroom 1980s brick house with a 315L electric storage tank on the controlled load circuit. Off-peak consumption runs 3,200 kWh per year at 18.5 cents/kWh plus a controlled load supply charge of $0.41/day. The annual controlled load cost is $592 (usage) + $149.65 (supply) = $741.65. The 13% rebate is $96.41 across the year, applied as roughly $24.10 each quarter. The same household separately receives the 17.5% Annual Concession on its general tariff bill, which is calculated independently.

Payment timing tracks the standard quarterly billing cycle. There is no minimum threshold to trigger the rebate - even a small controlled load circuit running an outdoor pool pump qualifies if the tariff is on the account.

How To Apply

The application channel is retailer (the same retailer panel as the Annual Concession - Origin, AGL, EnergyAustralia and so on). Two specific things must happen:

1. Register your PCC or DVA Gold Card with the retailer if you have not already. The Centrelink Confirmation eService (CCeS) check is the same as for the Annual Concession.
2. Confirm with the retailer that the controlled load tariff flag is on the account and that the Controlled Load Electricity Concession is enabled. Some retailers turn it on automatically when the controlled load tariff is detected; others need an explicit ask. The bill should show two concession lines: "VIC Annual Electricity Concession" and "VIC Controlled Load Electricity Concession", calculated against different tariff bases.

Evidence is the same concession card - no medical certificate, no extra paperwork. The controlled load tariff flag is verified from the network's Standing Data already in the retailer's billing system.

Read the DFFH electricity concessions guidance

When You'll See It

If your property is already on a controlled load tariff and your card is registered for the Annual Concession, the 13% rebate often appears on the very next quarterly bill - the retailer simply enables a second concession code. If the tariff is not currently flagged, your retailer can request the network to switch the meter setup, but that involves a site visit and can take 2-6 weeks depending on the distributor (Citipower, Powercor, Jemena, AusNet, United Energy). The rebate runs from the date the controlled load tariff goes live, not from the request date.

Backdating: like the Annual Concession, the rule does not pay arrears for periods before the controlled load flag and the card were both active on the account. Pensioners moving into a property with an existing electric storage tank should ask their retailer at account setup to confirm both the tariff and the concession are enabled, otherwise the first quarter's controlled load consumption will not carry the rebate.

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Geelong DVA Gold holder, full stack

Dante is 58, holds a DVA Gold Card after a service-related injury, and lives in a four-bedroom 1980s brick veneer in Geelong with a 315L electric storage hot water tank on a separately metered controlled load circuit. His annual general tariff cost is $2,280; controlled load runs $741. The Annual Concession gives him 17.5% × ($2,280 - $171.60) = $369.18; the Controlled Load Concession adds 13% × $741 = $96.33. Combined annual saving $465.51, roughly $116 each quarter spread across two bill lines on the AGL invoice.

Scenario 2: Footscray HCC pensioner, blocked from this rule

Eleni is 67 and holds a Low Income Health Care Card. Her Footscray townhouse runs an off-peak electric tank on a controlled load tariff. She passes every other gate (state, account holder, controlled load active) but the card list explicitly excludes HCC. EnergyAustralia applies the 17.5% Annual Concession to her general tariff but rejects the 13% Controlled Load Concession registration. Her path forward is the same as for the Annual Concession: wait for the Age Pension PCC at 67 (which she will receive next month) and ask the retailer to re-enable the controlled load rebate.

Scenario 3: Box Hill household with single-rate tariff

Arjun, 64, holds a PCC after retiring early on disability grounds. His Box Hill apartment uses an instantaneous gas hot water unit and a reverse-cycle split system, with no controlled load circuit. His electricity is billed on a single-rate domestic tariff. Even though he passes the card and account-holder gates, the property does not have has_controlled_load_tariff = true. Origin Energy declines the registration and confirms there is no off-peak meter to retrofit. Arjun keeps the 17.5% Annual Concession but cannot claim Controlled Load.

Scenario 4: Mildura PCC holder, recently switched tariff

Wirimbirra, 70, lives in a Mildura cottage with a slab-heated extension installed in 2022 that runs on a dedicated controlled load circuit during the network's overnight off-peak window. She holds a PCC. Powercor confirms the controlled load flag is on the account, but her retailer Red Energy never enabled the matching concession code when she registered her card last year, so she has been receiving only the 17.5% Annual Concession. After a 12-minute call to Red Energy, the Controlled Load Concession is enabled and back-credits one quarter (the rule does not back-pay further than the date of the request). On 4,100 kWh of annual controlled load consumption at 19 c/kWh, the rebate adds about $108 a year.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming HCC eligibility carries from the Annual Concession: the Annual Electricity Concession in-list is PCC, HCC and DVA Gold; the Controlled Load Concession in-list is PCC and DVA Gold only. A Health Care Card holder gets 17.5% on the general tariff but zero on the off-peak meter. The narrower in-list is the single most common surprise on this rule.
• Confusing controlled load with time-of-use: a time-of-use tariff (cheaper rates during off-peak hours but on the same general meter) does not qualify. The rule requires a separately metered controlled load circuit - the kind switched remotely by the distributor. Customers on TOU plans sometimes assume their cheap-rate consumption is "controlled load"; it is not.
• Stacking 13% on the Annual Concession base: the two rebates apply to different portions of the bill. The 17.5% runs on general tariff usage and supply (after the $171.60 carve-out); the 13% runs on controlled load usage and supply (with no carve-out). Adding the percentages to claim 30.5% off the whole bill double-counts the gate.
• Forgetting to ask the retailer to enable the second concession code: some retailer systems automatically pair the two rebates when both the tariff and the card are present, but several retailers leave the controlled load flag off until the customer calls. If the bill shows only one concession line (the 17.5%), pick up the phone.
• Billing change after switching retailers: when changing retailers the controlled load tariff itself usually transfers, but the concession code rarely does. The new retailer must capture the card and explicitly enable Controlled Load. Without the second step the off-peak meter loses 13% on the next bill.
• Removing the electric tank without unwinding the tariff: households that replace an electric storage tank with instantaneous gas or a heat pump occasionally leave the controlled load tariff active for a few billing cycles. The rebate continues to run on the dwindling off-peak supply charge, but once the network removes the controlled load meter the concession ends automatically. Customers should confirm in writing to the retailer when the circuit is decommissioned.

Related Victorian Energy Concessions

• Annual Electricity Concession (17.5%) - the parent rebate that runs on every quarterly bill year-round. Same retailer registration captures both rebates if you have a controlled load tariff and a qualifying PCC or DVA Gold Card.
• Excess Electricity Concession - kicks in only when total annual electricity cost crosses $3,895.13 and replaces the Annual Concession on the dollars above the threshold. Controlled Load continues separately.
• Medical Cooling Concession - 17.5% off general tariff between 1 November and 30 April for households with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's or another temperature-regulation condition. Has its own PCC / DVA Gold list (also no HCC).
• Winter Gas Concession - the gas-side seasonal companion: 17.5% off mains gas usage and supply between 1 May and 31 October. Useful for households running gas hot water alongside an off-peak slab.
• Life Support Concession (mains electricity) - separate flat per-kWh credit for households running doctor-certified life-support equipment. Calculated against legislated standard-load kWh figures rather than off-peak tariffs.
• Non-Mains Energy Concession - the off-grid alternative for households on LPG, heating oil or firewood with no controlled load meter to discount. Tiered annual rebate from $57 to $650 paid by bank transfer.

Frequently Asked Questions