Canberra’s energy retailers are to be required to tell their customers if a better deal is available and make it easier for them to compare costs, under new legislation introduced on Tuesday of this week. (20 April).
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the rule changes were recommended by the ACT’s Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
“Energy prices are notoriously hard to compare, especially for people who can’t afford the time it takes to navigate the best available deal out of providers,” Mr Barr said.
“These new rules will require energy retailers to tell you about a ‘reference price’ – a common benchmark that your deal will be compared against – and to tell you if a better deal is available, without you having to ask,” he said.
“This will make a real difference to Canberrans.”
Mr Barr said the difference between a standing offer price and the best market price could be up to $400 a year, and around 40 per cent of Canberrans were on standing offer contracts.
The Chief Minister said the new expectations and requirements for retailers would be set out in the ACT Retail Electricity (Transparency and Comparability) Code, which was available in draft form on the ICRC’s website, and was expected to come into effect in the second half of the year.
The ICRC’s nine-page Draft Code can be accessed at this PS News link.
