The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says that a nine per cent fall in electricity prices since the middle of last year had the potential to save $900 million for households in Eastern and Southern States.
However it warned electricity retailers that the onus was on them to comply with new energy market laws and pass on reductions in their costs to existing customers.
Chair of the ACCC, Rod Sims said households and small businesses should get the hip-pocket benefit of recent reductions in retailers’ costs.
“They can change to a new, cheaper plan or they can wait for their existing retailer to lower the rates on the plan they’re already on,” Mr Sims said.
“While we encourage consumers to cash in on the available savings by switching to a better deal, new laws require electricity retailers to pass on cuts in the wholesale cost of electricity.”
He said the new Prohibiting Energy Market Misconduct laws that came into effect in June last year require electricity retailers to make reasonable adjustments to their prices in line with their costs of procuring electricity.
“Companies that fail to comply with the laws face serious penalties, including fines of up to $10 million or 10 per cent of their turnover per breach,” Mr Sims said.
“A significant increase in generation capacity, attributed to renewable generation and falling fuel costs, has led to much lower wholesale electricity costs and it’s vital that all Australians now see the savings.”
