Households face up to $228 electricity bill shock after Australian Energy Regulator issues final default market prices
NSW households could have energy bill increases of up to 9.7 per cent from July 1, with South Australian and south east Queensland customers facing a hit of up to 3.7 per cent, according to the energy regulator.
The figures were released in the final determination of the Default Market Offer, set by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) on Monday.
The offer sets the maximum price caps for bill increases for residential customers on standing offer plans in the 2025-26 financial year.
Households in south east Queensland will see prices increase by 0.5 per cent to 3.7 per cent, South Australians face price hikes of between 2.3 per cent and 3.2 per cent, while NSW residents will be hit the hardest, with increases between 8.3 per cent and 9.7 per cent.
Prices for NSW residents were slightly higher than the hikes listed in the AER's April draft determination.
AER chair Clare Savage attributed the increases to the rising cost of energy production.
'We know this is not welcome news for consumers in the current cost-of-living environment,' she said.
'As noted in our draft determination, sustained pressures across almost all components of the DMO have driven these price rises, with wholesale and network costs rising in most jurisdictions between 1 per cent and 11 per cent, and retail costs between 8 per cent and 35 per cent compared with last year.'
Modelling by Canstar Blue estimates annual power prices for the 2025-26 financial year will increase between $71 to $228 for households.
The increase will hit NSW customers with Essential Energy the hardest, with the average annual electricity bill tipped to increase by 9.1 per cent from $2513 to $2741.
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Energy price increases from July 1
New South Wales households are set to experience power price increases of up to 9.1 per cent from July 1. Queensland prices are expected to inflate by four per cent, three per cent in South Australia and up one per cent in Victoria. The Australian Energy Regulator is attributing the higher rates to a rise in wholesale energy prices. There are fears a failure to hit the 82 per cent renewable target by 2030 could contribute to annual price hikes.
