Power bill relief will make better deals hard to find: energy players

Ben Potter and Gus McCubbing

Updated Mar 19, 2024 – 5.15pm, first published at 7.23am

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Key Points

Why it’s important: Power prices have surged 40 per cent over two years for some households and businesses.
Context: The Albanese government promised annual household bills would fall by $275.
What’s next: Regulators will issue final determinations in May.

Customers who shop around for a better deal on their power bill will find deep discounts hard to come by, energy giants have warned, after regulators determined that prices should come down for most households paying benchmark rates.

Regulators issued draft decisions on Tuesday that power retailers should cut so-called default rates by up to 9.7 per cent from July 1, following deep falls in wholesale electricity prices. Spending on upkeep of poles and wires stopped the default offers coming down further.