Victorian Labor’s signature project to bring down energy costs while achieving the state’s ambitious emissions targets made just one – loss-making – investment, spent $1.3 million consultants and had four board members walk out the door in its first year of operations.

The first annual report of the State Electricity Commission – announced by then premier Daniel Andrews during the 2022 state election campaign and seeded with $1 billion in public money – reveals a year plagued with expensive teething and operational problems and few signs of success.