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Origin Energy review

Origin Energy is one of the largest electricity and gas retailers in Australia. Here's what you need to know before deciding whether to switch to Origin Energy.

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CHOICE staff
CHOICE staff
Last updated: 27 February 2023

Origin Energy sells electricity to almost 2.3 million households, or over 24% of Australia's residential customers, according to 2021-22 figures. While they do invest in some renewable energy generation, they are Australia's fourth biggest climate polluter due to their large Eraring coal-burning power station in NSW and gas extraction and burning activities.

Established in 2000, Origin Energy is a publicly owned company based in Sydney, with call centres in Australia and oversears. The company owns and operates coal, natural gas, solar and wind power generator plants.

It runs six natural gas fired power stations and one baseload station to provide everyday energy use. It also owns five peaking stations for peak power use, generally during the height of summer and winter months. Origin claims to be Australia's largest buyer of utility scale solar.

Origin is one of the few energy retailers that is carbon neutral for its product. However, it's still among the lowest-scoring retailers in our green energy assessment. Its electricity tariffs vary according to your state and the chosen plan, and may include fixed-rate tariffs, discounts, a carbon-neutral option and solar feed-in tariffs.

It was fined by the ACCC in 2020 for an alleged false or misleading representation in a price increase letter sent to residential electricity customers in Victoria.

Contact details for Origin Energy

Which states does Origin Energy supply?

CHOICE Expert Rating on Origin Energy

CHOICE verdict on Origin Energy

Environmental

  • Origin Energy is among the worst performers in our green electricity assessment, with 1.5 stars out of 10.
  • It has invested heavily in CSG (colloquially known as fracking) in the past, and lobbied for support in this area. Origin backed out of both NT and QLD fracking operations in 2022.
  • It also plans to burn coal until 2032.
  • However Origin Energy does invest in some renewable energy and also heavily invests and supports demand response management.
  • It has above average export solar pricing and is carbon neutral for its product.
  • Origin Energy also supports local energy trading.

Customer service

  • 24,717 (1.1%) of Origin Energy's customers lodged complaints in 2021–22.
  • 53% of calls made to Origin Australia are answered within 30 seconds. 
  • Some callers are left waiting longer – the average wait time is 135 seconds.
  • 8.1% of callers hang up before their call is answered.

Origin Energy's energy sources

While Origin provides some information on its website we could not find a clear breakdown of its energy sources for 2020-21. The figures below are from our 2019-20 survey.

Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.

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