Relief from energy charges for drought-declared farms
The Drought Relief from Electricity Charges Scheme (DRECS) provides relief from supply charges on electricity accounts that are used to pump water for farm or irrigation purposes for drought-declared Queensland farming businesses.
Waivers or reimbursements of supply charges (and certain associated fees) are available while the drought declaration is operative.
To be eligible you must:
- be a farmer of a property that has been individually drought-declared or be within a drought-declared area
- be experiencing disruptions to pumping water for farming or irrigation (i.e. have no water or water availability is severely restricted within the billing period)
- and complete and submit an application form
For reimbursement applications you must submit a relevant electricity bill within 6 months of the bill issue date for which relief is being claimed.
Eligible customers using non-farm or irrigation tariffs must provide a statutory declaration stating the connection is being used primarily for pumping water for farm or irrigation purposes, identifying the connection by unique meter identifier or account number.
If the connection has other uses, the approximate proportion of electricity normally used for pumping water when not drought-declared must be stated in the statutory declaration.
Customers must provide a new statutory declaration if their circumstances change.
Ergon Energy customers use a separate Ergon application process.
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Last updated: 12 February 2026