The recent Announcement from AEMO (the ‘Regulator’) suggest that power prices will go up in the eastern states from between 20 to 25 cents per kWh in July 23 for the DEFAULT offer. This means that for anyone not on the default offer the price increase will be somewhat less but still SIGNIFICANT.
Why does this happen? AEMO cites the Ukraine war and consequent pressures on the gas price (LNG), which amazingly still is the price-setter in Australia. Price-setter means that gas, being used as the fuel of last resort, sets the overall price. And it’s very expensive right now.
If you ask us, the entire system is corrupt. It is true that gas is the last resort IF COAL AND ALL SOURCES OF RENEWABLE ENERGY FAIL TO DELIVER AT THE SAME TIME. This hardly ever happens in real life, so why should gas be allowed to set the price for any period? At a time when Origin and Co deliver record profits to shareholders, power prices go up again. Wrong, if you ask me.
What can we do?
Have your own solar power is still the answer that comes to mind first, coupled with smart use of your own power. Use it, when the sun is shining, because feed-in tariffs are minuscule now. Another thing that makes me wonder why!!
As more and more retailers offer only plans with embedded peak demand (kVA or kW based), avoid having too many power-hungry appliances running ta the same time to limit your peak energy use. For exampel, turn off your aircons when cooking.
As understandable as this peak demand charging is from the network’s perspective (the aim is to reduce the total load on the network in times of possible network constraints = avoid blackouts), the approach taken is highly unfair for those who simply have no choice, and smacks of just another revenue raising measure.
If you can’t change your way of using energy in peak hours (4pm to 9am) try to find a retailer that still offer plans on a flat rate only without charging for demand. According to CHOICE, you’ll be better off in almost every way.