The market for renewable energy certificates in Australia is currently in freefall. Prices are dropping like a stone, making the cost of being green much cheaper for your retailer. Make sure it gets cheaper for you, too.
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) is officially starting its Accelerating Smart Meter Deployment (ASMD) reforms. If you don’t already have a smart meter, you will by the end of 2030.
Bill Hero will minimise the pain of energy price rises ahead. Our Savings Guarantee means you just can't lose.
Today (15 March 2023) the Australian Energy Regulator and the Victorian Essential Services Commission simultaneously released their draft determinations for Default Offer pricing for the coming financial year.
The news is far from great:
No matter where you live in Australia, starting from 1 July 2023, you're in for some Bill Shock.
The official advice from the energy regulators remains that you should shop around and seek out the best-priced plans:
Customers who shop around continue to save on their bills. Based on offers available in February 2023, residential customers switching from a standing offer to the lowest market offer could save 7% to 17% and small business customers could save 9% to 26%, depending on their region.
If you're already a subscriber, you'll know that Bill Hero does this work for you, scouring the market on every bill cycle and running a personalised comparison, to see if there's a better-priced plan out there for you.
If you’re not already a subscriber, then what are you waiting for?! There’s no better time to join.
Not a subscriber yet? What are you waiting for! Never overpay for energy again! Bill Hero automatically compares every bill to help keep you always on the best-priced plan.
Sadly, the retail energy bill pain is far from over, with energy consumers facing steep price increases nationwide.
The latest Default Offer news from AER and from the Victorian ESC paints a bleak picture of expected energy bill price increases on the horizon.
Since 1 July 2019, new regulations have replaced the old Standing Offers with Default Offers across most of the National Energy Network.
There are two kinds of Default Offers:
Although calculated and defined in different ways, both DMO and VDO set a cap on the price that a customer will pay if they have not entered into a Market Offer with their retailer. They also set the benchmark against which any discounts offered in Market Offers must be expressed.
Here's more information about Default Offers from Savings as a Service:
Richard Foxworthy
The price increases put forward today by the AER in its draft DMO decision for 2023-24 look grim for energy consumers, with controlled-load households in the NSW Endeavour electricity distribution zone hit hardest with a 23.7% price increase.
| State | Distribution Zone | Resi no CL | Resi with CL | SME no CL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Ausgrid | +22.2% | +21.5% | +14.7% |
| Endeavour | +20.9% | +23.7% | +19.9% | |
| Essential | +22.1% | +21.4% | +17.5% | |
| QLD | Energex | +19.8% | +19.5% | +19.4% |
| SA | SAPN | +21.8% | +21.3% | +25.4% |
The draft VDO update also released today has even worse news for Victorian energy consumers:
The average annual bill for domestic customers on the Victorian Default Offer would be 31.1 per cent higher ... [and] ... the average annual bill for small business customers on the Victorian Default Offer would be 33.2 per cent higher.
There's no denying that the price increases in these draft determinations are ugly, and will further impact households already under increasing cost-of-living pressures, but it's actually not as bad as it might have been...
Households face power bill shock, electricity price rise of 24 per cent from July 1 forecast by the Australian Energy Regulator https://t.co/5o3NDm64bZ via @thetiser - It's like the doctor saying good news, I only need to chop off your foot, not take your whole leg....
— Peter (@illbef) March 14, 2023
In October 2022, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down a budget that included a forecast average +50% retail energy price increase, driven largely by abrupt increases to wholesale gas and coal prices.
Richard Foxworthy
In December, the federal government intervened, capping wholesale gas prices at $12 a gigajoule and coal prices at $125 a tonne, with the intent to drive down the costs for electricity generation, and reduce the expected retailer energy price increases.
The AER chair, Clare Savage, said the increases were “significant”, but they could have been as much as 40% to 50% without the federal government’s intervention in December to cap domestic gas and coal prices.
The full detail for both the AER's DMO and the Victorian VDO draft decisions for FY 2023-24 are available on their websites here :
As prices steadily climb higher, getting on top of your energy consumption is more important than ever.
One of the best ways to achieve this is by generating your own electricity with a solar installation. If you’re unsure where to start, our partners at SolarQuotes have you covered.
Bill Hero has partnered with SolarQuotes, the leading Solar quote provider in Australia, to help you get up to 3 no-obligation solar quotes from fully qualified installers, absolutely for free.
Richard Foxworthy
Richard Foxworthy
Got opinions about DMO price increases? Have your say in the comments, but please first read and understand our Community Guidelines.
Richard Foxworthy
A long overdue reset to the tariff reform agenda promises better outcomes for energy consumers. Plus a new report finds that retailers really do charge residential customers more than business.
Electrify Everything! Saul Griffith's Electricity Australia has released an ambitious plan to finance the energy transition for Australian households
The ACTU Price Gouging Inquiry holds a blowtorch to the energy industry, highlighting the predatory pricing tactics used across the industry and how it is impacting the Cost of Living in Australia.
New ACCC study shows that the Default Offer has failed to deliver a 'safety net' for energy consumers.
Savings as a Service is the blog site and newsletter from Bill Hero. Subscribe now and get your energy savings tips and information delivered fresh to your inbox every month.
