Electricity prices are about to skyrocket once again as Energy Australia just announced a near 20 per cent annual increase in both New South Wales and South Australia for residential and business customers.
“This is bad news for families and businesses and absolutely not what they wanted to hear,” Energy Australia Chief Customer Officer Kim Clarke said in a statement.
“In the past 12 months alone wholesale prices for both electricity and gas have surged, almost doubling in some states.”
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The increase means the combined electricity and gas bill of an average household in SA will increase by $479 a year and $379 in NSW.
Small to medium businesses in NSW should expect to see an average of $915 added to their electricity bill and $1042.60 to their gas costs.
In Queensland, the hike will be contained to an average 7.3 per cent annually due to the Queensland government’s direction to the State Government-owned distribution to keep prices low.
This comes just one week after AGL said its prices would increase by up to $600 for some states, with ACT the hardest hit as electricity tariffs will go up by 19 per cent and gas by 17 per cent.
Origin Energy is expected to announce an increase soon.
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AGL and Energy Australia’s new prices will come into effect from July 1 for NSW, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT.
Victoria and Tasmania operate on a different schedule and won’t feel the hike until January 1.
Energy Australia has blamed the closure of coal-fired power stations, the increased demand for gas and reliability issues with some big generators for the price hike while NSW Energy Minister Harwin said the “broken” energy market was to blame.
Energy Australia said an extra $10 million had been committed to expand its support for customers in need of assistance and encouraged those struggling to pay their bills to make contact.
It also pointed to chief scientist Alan Finkel’s report into the future security of the National Electricity Market as a model for the country.
“No-one pretends it’s an easy fix but doing nothing means higher prices and less reliable energy for all customers,” Clarke said.
“We think the Finkel Panel’s report is a good, solid blueprint for federal and state governments to work together on the bipartisan, national approach to energy we desperately need.”
EnergyAustralia owns a mix of coal, gas and renewable generation, including one of the nation’s oldest coal power stations, Yallourn, in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley.