Standing electricity offers increase by 75%, says Vinnies
With summer on it’s way, Aussies are gearing up to crack out the barbie, stock up on zooper doopers and, sadly, brace for high power bills. And since this season’s set to be an absolute scorcher, reaching for the aircon remote is going to be more tempting than ever. But with current energy prices, you might want to give that a second thought.
St Vincent de Paul Society’s annual Tariff Tracking report has revealed that since 2009, electricity base prices in Australia have increased by 75% on average, with Victoria and South Australia experiencing price hikes of over 100%.
These findings come alongside news of government intervention into default pricing in which they promise a better priced default offer by July 2019. This will then inform market prices and potentially drive down bills for Aussies across the board.
Energy discounts cause more stress than prices
Another finding of the Tariff-Tracking report is that discounts offered by energy retailers aren’t always beneficial due to fluctuations in discount amounts.
The report revealed that energy retailers change their discounts regularly and significantly, and that there are no clear factors that explain why these changes happen.
“In the last 12 months, AGL’s pay on time discount has been as high as 25% and as low as 15% [in NSW],” the report said.
It went on to say that Energy Australia’s discount has varied between 20% and 22%, and Origin’s between 13% and 21%.
The report also noted that while regulation in energy retailing has focused on frequency and notification of price variations, discounts happened without much notice or reason, and often have a bigger impact on energy bills than rate changes.
“The underlying network price has not changed, the regulatory framework has not changed, the energy itself has not changed. To the consumer, it is completely random,” the report said.
“We would like to take a big step back and commence the process of designing an energy retail market on the single principle of it benefiting consumers.”
If you’re on a standing offer and looking to change to a more competitive market offer, look no further than our energy cost cruncher, where you’ll get instant quotes from energy providers in your area, with the option to filter results based on discounts.
Or, check out the winners of our Mozo Experts Choice Energy Awards for the best value plans in your state.
