OVO Energy review 2026: plans, rates, and is it shutting down?
OVO Energy is an AGL-owned electricity retailer that came within weeks of being retired in 2025, then stayed. Here is what actually happened, what OVO charges today, and how its rates stack up against the cheapest plans we track.
By James Baker, founder of EnergyPlans, an Australian energy comparison platform. Last updated 4 September 2026.
Our verdict
- OVO Energy is still trading. It applied to surrender its retailer authorisations in December 2024 and withdrew that application on 23 January 2025.
- It is wholly owned by AGL, which has licensed the British OVO brand since 2021 and bought out the business in April 2024.
- The pitch is smoothed monthly billing, no exit or transaction fees, and 3% interest on credit balances — features, not necessarily a cheaper bill.
- On price, OVO's cheapest plan sits between $115 and $370 a year above the cheapest plan we track, depending on your network zone.
- We can't switch you to OVO — it isn't on our partner's panel. Go direct to OVO if it suits you, or compare what is available to you.
See how OVO Energy compares against other retailers for your postcode.
Compare plansIs OVO Energy shutting down?
No. The wind-down was planned, formally applied for, then called off. OVO withdrew its licence-surrender applications on 23 January 2025 and is still an authorised retailer.
This is worth setting out carefully, because a lot of coverage stopped reading after the first announcement. On 6 December 2024 the Australian Energy Regulator received an application from OVO Energy Pty Ltd to surrender both its electricity retailer authorisation (E19009) and its gas retailer authorisation (G19009). The submission explained that AGL had reviewed its product range and decided to retire the OVO retail brand, moving affected residential and small business customers across Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia onto the AGL brand in a single “big bang” migration, with the surrender to take effect from 30 June 2025.
Submissions on the applications closed on 13 January 2025 and none were received. Then on 23 January 2025 OVO Energy withdrew both surrender applications. The AER's authorisation register records the withdrawal against both the electricity and gas entries. The bulk migration to AGL that the surrender was designed to enable did not proceed on that basis.
The practical read for a customer: if you were with OVO, you are almost certainly still with OVO, on an OVO plan, billed by OVO. Check the retailer name on your most recent bill if you want to be certain. OVO has continued to develop its Australian range since — its plan terms carry a July 2026 revision date and it is still marketing new offers.
Sources: AER authorisation register entries for OVO Energy Pty Ltd (electricity and gas), and OVO's December 2024 surrender application. Because AGL has stated an intention to retire the brand before, this page is rebuilt from source data on every refresh rather than left as a static claim.
Who owns OVO Energy?
| When | What changed |
|---|---|
| 2019 | OVO Energy Pty Ltd receives AER electricity and gas retailer authorisations and launches in Australia. |
| March 2021 | AGL Energy acquires a 51% stake in the Australian business. |
| April 2024 | AGL acquires the remaining stake — OVO Energy Australia becomes wholly AGL-owned. |
| December 2024 | OVO applies to the AER to surrender both retailer authorisations so AGL can retire the brand. |
| 23 January 2025 | OVO withdraws both surrender applications. The brand stays. |
| 2026 | OVO continues to trade and market plans in NSW, VIC, QLD and SA. |
The brand is British in origin — OVO Group in the UK, in which Mitsubishi holds a minority stake — but the Australian retailer is an AGL business. AGL licences the OVO name rather than owning it, which is exactly why retiring the brand required a regulatory step in the first place. OVO Energy Australia has no ownership connection to Powershop, Shell Energy or Meridian, despite being grouped with them in a lot of “challenger retailer” coverage. If you want the parent's own offers, see our AGL electricity plans review.
OVO Energy rates by network zone
OVO's cheapest qualifying single-rate residential plan in each network zone it publishes rates for, costed at the regulator's benchmark usage for that zone.
| Network zone | State | Usage rate | Daily supply | Annual cost | vs reference price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Energy | NSW | 28.0c/kWh | $1.98/day | $2,011/yr | −$593 |
| Endeavour Energy | NSW | 27.9c/kWh | $1.35/day | $1,858/yr | −$470 |
| Ausgrid | NSW | 26.8c/kWh | $1.21/day | $1,487/yr | −$412 |
| Energex | QLD | 24.7c/kWh | $1.38/day | $1,638/yr | −$350 |
| SA Power Networks | SA | 38.1c/kWh | $1.54/day | $2,086/yr | −$248 |
| AusNet | VIC | 24.7c/kWh | $0.99/day | $1,351/yr | −$397 |
| Powercor | VIC | 21.8c/kWh | $1.07/day | $1,262/yr | −$371 |
| Jemena | VIC | 21.0c/kWh | $0.97/day | $1,193/yr | −$370 |
| United Energy | VIC | 20.6c/kWh | $0.91/day | $1,157/yr | −$372 |
| CitiPower | VIC | 20.3c/kWh | $0.95/day | $1,159/yr | −$322 |
Rates include GST. “vs reference price” compares the annual cost to the AER Default Market Offer or ESC Victorian Default Offer benchmark for that zone; a minus figure means the plan sits below the benchmark. Rates current as at 4 September 2026; reference prices effective 1 July 2026 (AER DMO 2026-27 & ESC VDO 2026-27).
OVO Energy vs the cheapest plan we track
The question that actually matters: what does staying with OVO cost you against the cheapest single-rate plan in the same network zone, at the same usage?
| Network zone | State | OVO cheapest | Cheapest we track | OVO costs more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SA Power Networks | SA | $2,086/yr | $1,716/yr1st Energy | +$370/yr |
| Endeavour Energy | NSW | $1,858/yr | $1,608/yrTango Energy | +$250/yr |
| Energex | QLD | $1,638/yr | $1,415/yrGloBird Energy | +$223/yr |
| Ausgrid | NSW | $1,487/yr | $1,309/yrTango Energy | +$178/yr |
| Powercor | VIC | $1,262/yr | $1,124/yr1st Energy | +$138/yr |
| CitiPower | VIC | $1,159/yr | $1,021/yr1st Energy | +$138/yr |
| Essential Energy | NSW | $2,011/yr | $1,876/yrTango Energy | +$135/yr |
| United Energy | VIC | $1,157/yr | $1,036/yrGloBird Energy | +$121/yr |
| Jemena | VIC | $1,193/yr | $1,073/yrGloBird Energy | +$120/yr |
| AusNet | VIC | $1,351/yr | $1,236/yr1st Energy | +$115/yr |
Both columns use the same method: the cheapest qualifying single-rate residential market plan for that zone, costed at the regulator's benchmark annual usage. Wholesale pass-through plans and offers with eligibility conditions are excluded from both sides. The cheapest plan we track is not necessarily one you can switch to through us. Rates current as at 4 September 2026; reference prices effective 1 July 2026 (AER DMO 2026-27 & ESC VDO 2026-27).
How we make money
We track 7,500+ plans from 28 retailers using public Consumer Data Right data. That is how we can publish the cheapest plan in your zone even when it is not one we can sign you up to. Switching through EnergyPlans is handled by our commercial partner, whose panel is smaller than the market we track, and we are paid a commission when you switch. The cheapest plan we publish may not be available through us, and you can always go direct to the retailer. The Australian Government’s free comparison sites, Energy Made Easy and Victorian Energy Compare, list every plan available in your area.
What OVO Energy offers in 2026
OVO's product design is unusual for the Australian market, and that is the real reason to consider it. Rather than competing on a headline discount, it competes on how the bill behaves.
- Smoothed monthly payments. OVO estimates your year's usage and splits it into twelve equal payments, adjusting the remaining months when your usage shifts. It removes the winter bill shock, but it does not reduce what you use.
- 3% interest on credit balances. Because you pay a flat monthly amount, your account often sits in credit; OVO pays interest on that balance. Genuinely rare in this market.
- Free daytime electricity windows. Plans offering a block of free electricity each day (subject to a fair use policy and a smart meter) are worth real money if you can shift laundry, dishwashing, pool pumps or EV charging into the window — and worth nothing if you can't.
- EV plans. Dedicated electric vehicle plans requiring a communicating smart meter.
- GreenPower. Optional 100% accredited GreenPower matching, audited under the government scheme.
- No exit or transaction fees. You are not locked in, which materially lowers the cost of trying it.
If a specific feature is what drew you to OVO, it is worth knowing the equivalents are widely available: GreenPower is offered by most large retailers, free-daytime windows now appear across the market (the 2026–27 Default Market Offer requires a Solar Sharer Offer with free daytime hours), and plenty of market offers carry no lock-in. The billing smoothing and credit interest are the genuinely harder features to replicate elsewhere.
OVO Energy and solar
OVO offers a solar feed-in tariff on its standard electricity plans in the states where it operates. Rates vary by state, distributor zone and plan, and Victoria deregulated its minimum feed-in tariff from 1 July 2025, so Victorian rates can be very low.
Don't shop on the feed-in headline. Across the plans we track, the electricity you avoid buying is worth many times the credit you earn exporting the same kilowatt hour, so the usage rate matters far more than the export rate for most solar households. We set out the numbers in our solar feed-in tariff value report, and track current rates by state on our solar feed-in tariff guide.
Is OVO Energy any good?
OVO reviews well on service and poorly on nothing in particular — its scores sit in the respectable middle of the Australian retail pack rather than at either extreme. It has also been recognised by Canstar for customer satisfaction among solar electricity providers in 2026. Customer satisfaction and price competitiveness are different questions, though, and the table above answers the second one.
The structural caution is the one worth holding onto: this is a licensed brand whose owner has already applied once to retire it. That application was withdrawn, and there is no current surrender before the regulator, but a brand AGL does not own is a brand AGL can decide to stop paying for. Since OVO charges no exit fees, that risk costs you little to carry.
OVO Energy by state
Frequently asked questions
Is OVO Energy shutting down in Australia?
No. OVO Energy Pty Ltd applied to the Australian Energy Regulator on 6 December 2024 to surrender its electricity (E19009) and gas (G19009) retailer authorisations so AGL could retire the brand and move customers to AGL. OVO withdrew both applications on 23 January 2025 and remains an authorised retailer. It is still selling plans in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.
Who owns OVO Energy in Australia?
AGL Energy. AGL bought 51% of OVO Energy Australia in March 2021 and acquired the remaining stake in April 2024, so the Australian business is now wholly owned by AGL. The OVO brand itself is British: AGL licences it from OVO Group in the UK rather than owning it. OVO Energy Australia has no connection to Powershop, Shell Energy or Meridian.
Were OVO Energy customers moved to AGL?
Not in the bulk migration AGL and OVO planned for 2025. That plan depended on OVO surrendering its retailer authorisations, and those surrender applications were withdrawn in January 2025. OVO customers remain OVO customers on OVO plans. If your circumstances change, check your latest bill for the retailer name.
Which states does OVO Energy service?
New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. OVO does not retail electricity in Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory or the ACT.
Can I switch to OVO Energy through EnergyPlans?
No. OVO Energy is not on our switching partner’s panel, so we cannot sign you up. We publish OVO’s rates here because they come from public Consumer Data Right data, and you can go direct to OVO if its plan suits you. Our comparison shows plans from the retailers our partner does carry.
Does OVO Energy offer a solar feed-in tariff?
Yes, on its standard electricity plans in the states where it operates. Rates vary by state, distributor zone and plan. Victoria deregulated its minimum feed-in tariff from 1 July 2025, so Victorian rates can be very low. Confirm the current rate with OVO before switching, and weigh it against the usage rate rather than shopping on the headline feed-in figure alone.
Methodology and sources
Rates on this page are computed at page build from retailer plan data published under the Consumer Data Right, covering 7,500+ plans, 28 retailers. For each network zone we take the cheapest qualifying single-rate residential market plan and cost it at the regulator's benchmark annual usage for that zone. We exclude wholesale pass-through plans, whose published rate is an estimate rather than a price, and offers with eligibility conditions such as mandatory direct debit or membership. Rates current as at 4 September 2026; reference prices effective 1 July 2026 (AER DMO 2026-27 & ESC VDO 2026-27).
Corporate history and licensing status come from the Australian Energy Regulator's retailer authorisation register and OVO Energy Pty Ltd's December 2024 surrender applications. Plan features come from OVO's published plan terms.
EnergyPlans is an Australian energy comparison platform. We are not owned by a retailer. We may earn a commission if you switch through us, which never changes the prices you see — and OVO Energy is not a retailer we earn anything from, because it is not on our partner's panel.
For media
The figures on this page are free to republish with attribution to EnergyPlans.com.au and a link to this page.
- Methodology: see the section above.
- Zone or state breakdowns: available on request.
- Media contact: James Baker, Founder, EnergyPlans — media@energyplans.com.au.
- More data: see our media and data hub and the Australian Electricity Price Index.