Household electricity bills are set to jump by as much as $200 a year in parts of the eastern states, raising cost-of-living pain and turning the upcoming election into a referendum on Australia’s shift to clean energy and the impending closures of coal-fired power stations.
Energy regulators released draft decisions on Thursday to lift price caps for hundreds of thousands of customers by up to 8.9 per cent in NSW and up to 5 per cent – or $68 – in parts of Victoria.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) and Energy Minister Chris Bowen are under pressure to bring power bills down.Credit: Wolter Peeters
The hike will have political implications, thanks to the prime minister’s promise at the 2022 election that power bills would decrease.
Here’s an extract of chief political correspondent David Crowe’s analysis of what this means for the upcoming election campaign.
The price rises unveiled on Thursday are proof of the deception because they show another spike in electricity bills after political leaders sounded so sure they could bring prices down.
The official price update from the Australian Energy Regulator shatters the grand claims about all the action in federal parliament to help households. The biggest claim – but not the only one – came from Labor before the last election.
Anthony Albanese was definitive about a $275 cut to energy bills, so he will have to carry the political cost of his promise now he is prime minister.”
So what can you do to limit the blow? Ideas include shopping around for the best deal, decreasing unnecessary energy use and knowing your rights and entitlements. Head here to read experts’ advice on how to bring down your power bill.
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