Australia’s consumer watchdog has confirmed what many households already know far too well: electricity bills were less affordable than they were the year before – and they’re about to get even worse.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Friday released the findings of its latest Electricity Market Inquiry Report.
Its analysis of 13 million residential and small business electricity bills found that, in the September 2022 quarter, households in most states connected to the National Energy Market (NEM) paid more for power than at the same time the year prior.
South Australians copped the worse deal with a 9.1 per cent increase to the median quarterly electricity bill, and in New South Wales the rise was 6.4 per cent.
Victorians, on the other hand, paid just 0.6 per cent more than the year before, while households in South-East Queensland actually enjoyed bills that were 20.4 per cent cheaper thanks to the state government’s $175 cost of living rebate.
Small business owners, however, were hurting all across the board; the ACCC found their bills increased by 13.1 per cent across all regions.
The report does not include Western Australia and the Northern Territory, neither of which are connected to the NEM, nor regional Queensland, the ACT or Tasmania, where prices are government-regulated.
The ACCC also examined future prices, and forecasted that Australians connected to the NEM will be hit by steep increases from next month, when new benchmark electricity costs come into effect.
“Wholesale electricity prices have eased since their peak in the middle of 2022, but we expect electricity bills to increase further this year due to the lag in wholesale costs flowing through to customers,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
“Energy retailers enter into supply contracts with generators years in advance to manage volatility, so households haven’t yet seen the full impact of last year’s wholesale price spikes.”
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Brakey said the ACCC is monitoring electricity retailers’ price changes to ensure they are acting legally.
“Retailers have certain legal obligations under the Electricity Retail Code to communicate price changes in a way that allows people to compare different plans,” Ms Brakey said.
“Any retailer that breaches the electricity code or seeks to mislead consumers about the reasons for electricity prices increasing can expect our attention.
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“It’s important for people to see if they can reduce their electricity bills by switching to a better plan.
“We encourage all households and small businesses to use the government-run websites Energy Made Easy and Victorian Energy Compare to see if there is a cheaper offer available.
“We advise waiting until after 1 July, when many retailers will have updated their energy plans. Customers can then have greater certainty about the prices they will be paying and compare the largest range of available offers in the market.”
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