The Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) has today released its draft determination on regulated retail electricity prices (notified prices) for regional Queensland in 2019–20.
QCA Chair Professor Flavio Menezes said the review of notified prices began in December 2018 under a delegation from the Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, the Honourable Dr Anthony Lynham MP.
“This year’s draft determination forecasts decreases across most tariffs, including the main residential and small business tariffs,” Professor Menezes said.
“The main contributor to the tariff decreases for 2019–20 is a decline in forecast wholesale energy costs, due primarily to a large amount of new renewable energy generation being forecast to enter service in the National Electricity Market in 2019–20.”
“Overall, the draft forecasts show a 4.1 per cent decrease in the annual bill for a typical customer on the main residential tariff (tariff 11) and a 7.2 per cent decrease for the typical customer on the main small business tariff (tariff 20).
“The annual notified price for a typical customer on the main residential tariff is expected to decrease by $58 from $1398 to $1340. For the typical customer on the main small business tariff, the annual notified price is expected to decrease by $180 from $2491 to $2311.
“The draft determination is based on network charges regulated by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), the latest information from competitive wholesale and retail electricity markets, and on expert analysis from the QCA’s consultant (ACIL Allen).”
Professor Menezes said that it is important to note that the QCA sets prices in accordance with the Queensland Government’s uniform tariff policy, which means most regional customers pay significantly less for electricity than it costs to supply.
Professor Menezes also noted that this is a draft determination, and it is likely there will be changes in the final determination. The draft determination is released to get feedback on how the QCA plans to calculate prices for 2019–20. While the draft determination provides indicative price estimates, these are based on information at the time and will be updated for the final determination, based on updated data and feedback from stakeholders.
He said that consultation is an important part of the QCA’s assessment processes, and he encouraged stakeholders to provide feedback on the draft determination.
“We strongly encourage stakeholders to review our draft determination and provide feedback through our submissions process. Stakeholders will be able to make a submission up until 12 April 2019. Information on how to make a submission is available on our website.”
“Depending on stakeholder interest, we plan to hold community workshops in March in Ayr, Bundaberg, Cairns, Charleville, Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, Townsville and Brisbane. Stakeholders can register their interest in attending a workshop through our website,” he said.
The final determination will be published by 31 May 2019, with the notified prices to apply from 1 July 2019. The notified prices are only available to customers in regional Queensland.
All media enquiries: Cole Lawson Communications, 07 3221 2220 or 0411 135 005.
View project