The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will launch court action against Origin Energy for overstating its claims.

The consumer watchdog will allege that Origin overstated the value of savings for switching to it DailySaver energy plans.

“The ACCC alleges that, from day one, consumers on a DailySaver energy plan were short-changed on their discount,” chairman Rod Sims said.

Origin allegedly offered a discount of up to 16% off electricity bills on DailySaver, but ACCC says the rates were in fact 4% higher than under Origin’s standard contract.

Origin also offered 12% off natural gas charges for DailySaver plans, when in fact the rates were approximately 1% higher than under the standard retail contract.

The ACCC is seeking pecuniary penalties, declarations, injunctions, publication orders, a compliance program, redress for affected consumers, and costs.

Meanwhile, Origin Energy’s Queensland arm says it is going back to black coal, as LNG exports are ramped up.

Origin’s Grant King, a key figure behind three giant LNG export plants being built at Gladstone, says around two-thirds of the gas-fired power plants on the east coast and South Australia will lose their supplies.

Mr King says the gas will be diverted to exports.

“The use of gas will fall and it will be black coal that makes up that difference,” Mr King told a Macquarie resources conference in Sydney at the weekend.

About 200 petajoules of gas was used for east coast power supplies last year, but Origin forecasts around 140 petajoules of that will become an exported product.

Shipping gas to Asia for higher prices may force Australian power plants to go back to their old fuel.

Mr King says coal will provide 90 per cent of the east coast’s thermal (gas and coal) power generation, up from 80 per cent in 2012.

“In our portfolio, coal will produce more of our energy, but it won’t cost us any more. Gas will go up to a higher value use in the form of LNG,” he said.