We launched retail to connect local people and local renewables. We learned, sometimes the hard way, about the importance of absolutely dependable billing and service, reliable energy‑sharing information, and products that actually support electrification. So, we’re relaunching with a new operating model to deliver exactly that: customer service from our Beechworth team, a commitment to rebuilding our energy‑sharing platform, tighter integration with community batteries, and product innovation that rewards local clean energy.
Indigo Power Managing Director, Ben McGowan, reflects on five years of Indigo Power’s retail offering.
Where we started
Indigo Power grew out of Totally Renewable Yackandandah (TRY) and a simple mission: to help communities power themselves with 100% renewable energy. To do that properly, we needed three things working together:
- Clean energy technology roll out (solar, batteries, electrification),
- Scaled local generation and storage, and
- An electricity retail service that connects people and assets so communities can share more renewable energy.
In 2017, we won Victorian Government funding (hosted by Indigo Shire Council) to build the business case for a community energy retailer. I spent a year on that work. Our conclusion was to focus on connecting communities with more renewable energy, not to focus all our resources on building an electricity retailer and securing a retail licence. We didn’t have the capital or compliance machinery to develop a licenced retailer from scratch, so we partnered with Energy Locals, who were early in their growth and keen to work with purpose‑driven partners.
We missed out on launch funding in 2018. Rather than shelve the idea, we incorporated Indigo Power Limited in November 2018 with the community’s backing. We’d been consulting with community energy groups throughout the business case work. That group became the Community Energy Network (still going today, convened by the Coalition for Community Energy and sponsored by Indigo Power). They helped us choose our name: we put a shortlist to the ~700 people on our mailing list and “Indigo Power” was the clear winner.
Launching into a headwind
By November 2019, we were ready with our first retail offer. We launched in Yackandandah and then planned twelve town-hall events across North East Victoria. We made it through King Valley and Wodonga, but then COVID hit. The rest were cancelled. Not an easy time to build a new retailer.
And the challenges didn’t stop there. Working through a partner model exposed weak points in the delivery model:
- Service gaps. Energy Locals held customer service. Too often, the experience didn’t meet our standards, or our customers’.
- Billing reliability. Our billing provider had repeated missteps and delays. You don’t get many chances in retail: billing must be accurate and on time.
- Product constraints. “Best offer” compliance meant we couldn’t easily put differentiated prices into market without triggering confusing bill messages. The comparison algorithm we needed wasn’t available to us until 2024.
- Energy‑sharing software. We delivered an early proof‑of‑concept so communities could see local energy sharing happen. It was the right idea, delivered through the wrong arrangements. The software had too many bugs and too much downtime.
- Market reality on solar. In the early days, solar exports were valued more highly. For a three‑month period, we passed through a 20 c/kWh feed-in to our customers. As more solar flooded the grid, those export values fell sharply, and solar exports started to actually cost us money.
- Scale of local assets. We commissioned our first community battery in Yackandandah in 2021, but with only one asset, we couldn’t meaningfully buffer customers from wholesale volatility.
We did make progress: we expanded into regional New South Wales in 2021 and across all of Victoria and New South Wales in 2024, our energy‑sharing proof helped validate the concept, and in 2024, once the comparison tool finally arrived, we launched the Energy Shapers plan, the kind of innovative product we’d wanted from day one. In this first iteration of our retail, we made some progress, but this isn’t the standard we’re setting for our new retail offer.
The relaunch: what’s changing now
Our first retail offer concluded when Energy Locals ended our services contract on 1 October 2025. We’re now finalising a refreshed retail offer and negotiating terms with a new partner, and we expect to present new offers to customers in December 2025. As we rebuild the offer, we’re focused on delivering our purpose and meeting customer expectations every single day. Here’s what we’re focusing on:
- In‑house customer service (Beechworth team). We’re focused on moving front-line customer service to our own team, so when you call, you’re talking to Indigo Power people who understand our communities and can actually fix things.
- A rebuilt energy‑sharing platform. We’ll need to set up a new arrangement for our energy sharing platform that is reliable and with an expanded scope: from local hubs to sharing across our whole customer base.
- A product roadmap that supports electrification. Expect offers that reward flexibility and local sharing, and make it easier to electrify homes and businesses. We’ll keep innovating here because it’s core to our mission.
- Deeper integration with a fleet of community batteries. With multiple batteries and proper integration to the retail service, we can share more renewable energy and better manage spot‑market volatility.
Our previous partner terminated the contract, and that’s frustrating. It’s also an opportunity to relaunch on our terms, with the right capability and the right partner alignment. It will take time to bed in systems and processes with a new partner, but we’re focused on building a stronger, more reliable electricity retail service that will be better for our customers in the long term.
How you can get involved
- Indigo Power customers: we’re automating a sign-on journey for you that’s simple and efficient. If you haven’t yet filled out the form for us to send you an offer, you can do so by clicking here. If you’ve already filled out the form, there’s nothing more to do at this stage.
- Everyone else: Click here to register your interest in the relaunch so you’re first to know when new offers go live.
We started Indigo Power to give communities more control over their energy future, and that hasn’t changed.
Ben is Indigo Power’s Managing Director. He has a passion for collaborative initiatives that positively impact our communities. Ben leads our skilled and committed projects team, driving the uptake of community-scale clean energy technologies in communities around Australia.