Electricity prices will rise 12.75 per cent in the ACT from July 1, an increase of $240 a year for an average residential customer.

For an average business customer, the increase in the annual bill will be $922. 

“The federal government’s bill of $300 relief will fully offset the increase in electricity prices for most residential customers and partially offset the increase in electricity prices for small business customers,” said Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission spokesman Joe Dimasi on Thursday.

“Despite the increase in regulated electricity prices, electricity bills for ACT customers on standing offers are expected to remain some of the lowest in the country.”

Meanwhile, AAP reports that Victorian households will pay about $100 less for electricity, with the state’s regulator lowering its recommended pricing for power companies.

 Maximum annual residential standing offer electricity bills as at 1 July 2024 using 6500 kWh

Senior Commissioner Dimasi said: “Canberrans on ActewAGL’s standing offers will see average price increases of 12.75 per cent (or 7.63 per cent excluding inflation) in 2024-25.

“This is lower than the estimated price increase of 16.62 per cent under ActewAGL’s preferred methodology for wholesale energy costs and retail margin, and our estimate of a 17.1 per cent increase in the draft report.” 

The ACT’s economic regulator released its final decision on the methodology it will use to set regulated retail electricity prices for the next three years from 1 July 2024. 

“The changes to our methodology aim to more accurately reflect the costs incurred by efficient retailers and provide a balance between reasonable prices for consumers and competition in the ACT electricity market”, he said.

“We used the updated methodology to estimate the allowed price change for 2024-25. The methodology changes include an update to our benchmarks for retail operating costs and retail margin, and a review of the hedging strategy to better reflect how retailers respond to energy market volatility. 

“The price increase for 2024-25 is mainly driven by the increased network costs that are determined by the Australian Energy Regulator and the increase in the ACT government’s large-scale feed in tariff (LFiT) scheme costs.” 

Mr Dimasi said that last year, the scheme resulted in a rebate to ACT consumers, protecting them from the large increases in electricity prices experienced in other jurisdictions. In 2024-25, the scheme would incur an overall cost, which would be passed on to consumers. 

“The regulated price increases only apply to ActewAGL’s standing-offer tariffs. Market offers tend to be much lower and our analysis indicates that a typical customer could save up to $700 per year by moving from a standing offer to a market offer.”