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Origin Energy Limited
Origin Energy sells electricity, natural gas, and LPG to Australian homes and businesses, and also produces natural gas.
Origin Energy is one of Australia's biggest energy retailers. It sells electricity, natural gas, and LPG to millions of households and businesses, mostly in the eastern states. For most customers, Origin is simply the name on the power bill — the company that keeps the lights on and the hot water running. It also runs a gas exploration and production business, pulling natural gas out of the ground, including from coal seam gas fields in Queensland.
The retail side is the engine. Origin buys wholesale electricity and gas, bundles it with customer service and billing, and sells it to homes and small businesses. Customers switch between retailers constantly, so Origin competes on price, discounts, and perks like solar and battery deals. Its scale helps: with millions of accounts, it can spread costs thin and negotiate better wholesale deals. The gas production arm feeds both its own retail supply and outside buyers, and it owns a stake in the Australia Pacific LNG export project, which ships gas to Asia. Origin's big strategic bet has been cleaner energy. It has built up renewables and storage, and it owns one of Australia's largest generation portfolios. In 2023, Brookfield and MidOcean Energy launched a takeover bid for the company, but the deal collapsed in 2024 when shareholders and the board couldn't agree on value — a rare public failure for a large infrastructure buyout. Origin then moved ahead on its own, including a plan to build large batteries and wind farms to replace ageing coal plants.
The business is steady but not glamorous. Regulated networks and retail margins are thin, and wholesale prices swing hard, so profits can jump and sag year to year. Origin pays a dividend and has bought back shares. Its real test is whether it can keep customers loyal while spending billions on new generation — a expensive transition in a market where competitors like AGL Energy and EnergyAustralia are fighting for the same customers.
Saved answer · last researched 12 Nov 2026