While the rest of Australia faces soaring power bills, the ACT is on track to slash electricity prices this year thanks to long-term contracts that locked in low-cost renewable energy.
According to The Guardian, basic tariffs will fall by a minimum of at least 1.25 per cent from July 1.
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The ACT’s independent competition and regulatory commission said, “This is equivalent to a real decrease of 4.93 per cent after excluding inflation.”
The reduction in the regulated tariff will cut $23 from the annual power bill for average households using 6500kWh of electricity annually, and $88 for average non-residential users.
“ACT is the only jurisdiction in the national electricity market where regulated tariffs will decline in 2022-23,” senior commissioner Joe Dimasi said.
“The price decrease is driven by a decline in the ACT government scheme costs this year, which more than offset the increase in wholesale electricity costs,” Dimasi said.
The ACT’s deputy chief minister and energy minister, Shane Rattenbury, said average household bills for this coming financial year would be about $800 lower than those in neighbouring NSW.
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Wholesale prices in the national electricity market more than doubled in the March quarter from a year earlier, and have risen more since. Australia’s gas crisis has added to the local price spike.
According to the Australian Energy Regulator, electricity prices will rise by as much as 18 per cent from July in parts of the national electricity market after wholesale prices increased 49 per cent in Queensland and 41 per cent in NSW.
