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Renewable Energy News

TUESDAY 20 NOVEMBER, 2012 |

Energy Retailers Refuse To Pass On SA Electricity Price Cuts

by Energy Matters

Recommendations from the Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) to reduce retail electricity prices for customers on a standing contract will reportedly not be implemented.

ESCOSA recently recommended retail electricity prices be cut by 8.1 per cent for customers on standing contracts - a reduction of around $160 off the average electricity bill.

The initial reaction to the recommendations from Big Energy was predictably unfavourable.

At the time, AGL Chief Executive Michael Fraser, who is also the Chairman of the Clean Energy Council, said the company will not make further investments in new South Australian power generation capacity, including renewable energy.

6 weeks on and it's looking as though the 570,000 householders on standing contracts won't see any relief.

AdelaideNow reports the Energy Supply Association of Australia has declared the savings will not pass on to market contracts. The Association's chief executive officer, Matthew Warren (previously the Clean Energy Council's CEO), said ESCOSA should review its methodology; which was heavily criticised by Big Energy players including AGL, Origin, Energy Australia and Simply Energy .

However, consumer watchdog association Consumer SA believes if electricity retailers refuse to pass on the recommended reduction, the South Australian government enforce the decrease to all contracts.

Whether on a standing or market contract, South Australian households have increasingly felt the pinch of rapidly increasing electricity prices for the last few years. Pain at the electricity meter has driven many thousands of households to install solar - but even that option will become more expensive soon after last Friday's announcement the Solar Credits multiplier would be abolished 6 months early.

As with the rest of Australia, South Australian households who hadn't already placed an order for a solar panel system only have until December 31 to not only acquire one but have it installed in order to benefit from the current higher subsidy - and given the rush triggered by the announcement, installation bookings will be filling fast.