Huge power bill shock with electricity prices set to surge for thousands of Australians – here’s how much more you will be paying
- Electricity prices to increase by 24 per cent
- NSW, QLD and South Australia to be affected
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Energy prices are set to skyrocket by up to 24 per cent for hundreds of thousands of Australians under a new ceiling electricity price set by the regulator.
The Australian Energy Regulator revealed that prices would rise by between 21 and 24 per cent from July upon releasing its final determination on Thursday.
The revised increase is higher than the draft offer of 20 to 22 per cent rise put forward by the regulator back in March.
About 600,000 residents in New South Wales, south-east Queensland and South Australia will be affected by the changes.
From July 1, residential customers will see price increases of 19.6 to 24.9 per cent, depending on their region.
Small business customers are facing lifts of 14.7 per cent to 28.9 per cent.
The Australian Energy Regulator has confirmed that electricity prices will increase from July (stock image)
Around nine per cent of customers are charged the default market rate, which effectively acts as a safety net to ensure domestic users are not charged obscene amounts.
Most customers are on lower, discounted rates, but the default offer also serves as a benchmark for wider prices.
The AER said they had taken stakeholder feedback into account when making the final determination.
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‘The changes we have made are largely updates based on additional, finalised information and refinements to our methodology to better reflect the costs of retailing electricity,’ the AER said.
The regulator explained that the rise in retail electricity prices were being driven by high wholesale energy costs.
AER chair Clare Savage said the agency considered the cost-of-living pressures faced by households and businesses as well as the need for retailers to recover their costs.
‘We know households and small businesses continue to face cost-of-living pressures on many fronts, and that’s why it’s important the (default offer) provides a safety net for those who might not have shopped around for a better power deal,’ she said.
‘No one wants to see rising prices, and we recognise this is a difficult time, that’s why it’s important for consumers to shop around for a better deal.’
About 600,000 residents in New South Wales , south-east Queensland and South Australia will be affected by the changes (stock image)
The May budget estimated retail electricity prices would increase by 10 per cent in 2023/24.
Ms Savage said the price increase was better than what was initially predicted back in September.
She claimed that prices would have risen by 35 to 50 per cent if the government had not intervened in the energy market.
‘It is much lower than where we were fearing it could have been…but still difficult news for customers,’ she told ABC RN on Thursday.
The price changes will come into effect on July 1.
More to come.
