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Sky News AU
30-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
'Smoke and mirrors': Chris Bowen's claim power prices are coming down dismantled by energy expert
Energy Minister Chris Bowen's boasts about energy prices have been dismantled by an energy expert, with the Coalition calling on Bowen to "come clean" with the Australian people. On Wednesday, Mr Bowen was asked if he stood by the Albanese government's commitment to cut power bills by $275 by the end of the year. At first Mr Bowen insisted energy bills have come down since last year, pointing to ABS data released on Wednesday. ' People looked at the fact that energy prices have fallen, as I just said, by 6.2 per cent in a year just gone,' he said. 'They would have been 16.6 per cent higher if [Tehan] had had his way and energy bill relief had not applied. That was the key difference.' Frontier Economics co-founder and Managing Director Danny Price, Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan and Nationals MP Matt Canavan have objected to Mr Bowen's claims. Speaking to Mr Tehan said his Labor counterpart 'must come clean' with the Australian people. Mr Tehan said once the $3.5 billion in energy bill rebates were taken out of consideration, power bills in Australia have gone up by 10 per cent since June last year, and up 32 per cent since the June before. 'We need to stop energy prices rising, not take billions of dollars from Australians every year, to give it back to them to temporarily hide the price rises,' Mr Tehan said. 'This is not honouring a commitment it is deceiving people.' Frontier Economics Managing Director Danny Price told the subsidy was put in place to 'disguise' the electricity price rise which was announced the Australian Energy Regulator in March. 'Cost increases across nearly all components of the DMO (Default Market Offer) have resulted in draft DMO 7 prices for residential customers increasing between 2.5 per cent and 8.9 per cent compared with DMO 6, depending on the region. Small business customers could see rises between 4.2 per cent and 8.2 per cent,' the AER said. Mr Price said the Energy Minister's claim that electricity consumers were better off by 6.2 per cent was due to taxpayers 'paying for their own price reductions by funding the subsidies to themselves'. Nationals Senator Matt Canavan said once the subsidies run out, power bills will go 'through the roof'. 'Chris Bowen's claim is like stealing $100 from someone and giving $20 back so they can thank him,' he said. 'It's all smoke and mirrors.' According to Budget Paper No. 1 (2025-26), the government will commit an extra $1.8 billion to extend energy bill relief, in the form of two quarterly $75 rebates, to the end of 2025. The rebates are on top of around $5 billion in rebates being applied to electricity bills for millions of households and small businesses since 2023. The Frontier Economics boss said households were 'actually worse off' thanks to the Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund, and pointed to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' explanation that the price reductions were an 'artifice of taxpayer funded subsidies' and the annual fall in price was directly due to the handouts. 'Electricity [prices] rose 8.1 per cent this quarter, following a 16.3 per cent rise in the March quarter,' the ABS said. 'Despite two consecutive quarterly rises in electricity, the series has recorded a fall of 6.2 per cent over the past 12 months. 'The annual fall is due to the introduction of the second round of the Commonwealth Energy Bill Relief Fund (EBRF) rebates from July 2024, which continue to reduce electricity costs in most capital cities.' Mr Price said despite the 'massive subsidies', consumers were much worse off than a few years ago because of the relentless price rises that have already occurred that were not offset by subsidies. 'Australians now pay some of the highest electricity prices in the world. It seems as though now taxpayers will continue to pay for the ever-rising costs of renewable subsidies,' he said. The Energy Minister also claimed on Wednesday that 'most cheapest form of energy ... is renewable'. Mr Price said it was 'deceptive and misleading' for individuals to make comparisons between the stand-alone costs of wind and solar and coal, gas or nuclear. 'Consumers are supplied with a mix of generation sources, not just wind and solar. The only valid way that generation costs should be compared is the total cost of the least cost mix of generation,' he said. 'Frontier Economics showed that the highest cost system is one that relied on renewables and batteries. The reason is simple. Renewable generators only produce about a quarter or third of the electricity for the same capacity.' 'And then you need to pay for the costs of storing excess renewable energy to supply consumer for the majority of time that these generators do not generate electricity, and you also need to pay for the back-up generation when storages are depleted,' he said. 'Once all these costs are included, which the CSIRO don't include ... then renewables are not the cheapest form of generation."
Perth Now
01-07-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Grim message to Albo on $634 bill hike
A welfare advocate has warned Australians struggling with soaring energy costs are giving up food and medication, with increases to minimum wage and a $150 extension to the energy rebate doing little to soothe rising bill shock. Adelaide public housing resident Mel Fisher, 43, said she's been forced to stay in bed as a way to keep warm during bitter winter days so she can avoid using heating in her draughty, concrete, two-bedroom house. 'It's absolutely freezing. I live in public housing, so it has no insulation at all and the interior and exterior are concrete walls, so once they get cold, they stay cold,' she told NewsWire. The Elizabeth Vale woman recently received notice from her energy provider Engie that her yearly bill will increase by $634 from Wednesday. When asked about Labor's $150 six-month energy rebate, which kicks in from July 1, she grimly responds: 'Albanese's subsidy isn't fixing this'. When asked about the extension to the federal government energy rebate, Ms Fisher responded: 'Albanese's subsidy isn't fixing this'. Credit: Supplied Ms Fisher currently pays about $120 a fortnight on electricity bills, nearly 15 per cent of her fortnightly JobSeeker payment, and is struggling with an energy debt - money owing to energy providers - of $6000. Because she needs to run airconditioning during the summer to keep cool due to a health condition, she uses the winters to bring down her debt. 'I tried to change electricity companies, because this one has consistently been very high, but I still have to pay them off while paying the new electricity company ... I just can't do that,' Ms Fisher said. Antipoverty Centre co-ordinator Jay Coonan said Ms Fisher is one of more than 330,775 Australian households facing electricity bill debt, with the total amount of arrears totalling over $300m. South Australian public housing resident Mel Fischer, 43, is struggling to keep up with her bills, leaving her to seek warmth in bed instead of using her heating during winter. NewsWire/ Roy VanDerVegt Credit: News Corp Australia Under the Default Market Offer set by the Australian Energy Regulator, customers on standing offer contracts are set to have their bills increase by 7.9 per cent to 9.7 per cent in NSW, while residents in southeast Queensland will see hikes of 3.7 per cent, and 3.2 per cent in South Australia. Calculated by the state Essential Services Commission, Victorians will have to weather a 1 per cent spike. Alongside Anglicare and ACOSS, Mr Coonan is one of many advocacy groups calling on energy retailers and the government to absorb electricity bill debt and give households a chance to catch up. Ms Fischer was recently hit with a notice that her power bills would be increasing by $635 over the next financial year. Supplied Credit: Supplied Mr Coonan said bill stress was having a 'compounding effect' on cash-poor Australians, who were giving up medication and food to get by. 'It's compounding into a crisis and if you can't afford energy you're going to be suffering more and more and living with less and less,' he said. 'I'm talking about people who are on the JobSeeker payment, and pensioners. These are the people who are in debt, who have no ability to be able to pay their bills because energy prices are high.' Recent Anglicare research also found low-income earners were most affected by electricity bill debt, and despite the minimum wage going up by $32.06 a week from July 1, a worker on a full-time wage would have just $33 left over after paying for rent, food and transport. A single-parent on would have just $1 remaining even if they received the full Family Tax Benefit and were on the highest rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance. Anglicare Australia Executive Director Kasy Chambers said too many households were 'falling behind and staying behind'. 'People are forced into payment plans they can't sustain. They carry energy debt from one bill to the next with no chance of catching up, even though energy retailers are making record profits,' she said. 'That's why we're calling for energy debt relief for people in hardship, and better regulation to stop the gauging of energy costs and helps people to start afresh.' Energy Minister Chris Bowen acknowledged energy bills were too high. NewsWire/ Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia While Energy Minister Chris Bowen didn't comment directly on calls to scrap the bill debt for households, he acknowledged energy was too expensive. 'It's clear energy bills for many Australians remain higher than they should be – that's why we're providing help for people doing it tough as we deliver longer term reform, including making the energy retail market fairer,' he said. He pointed to recent rule changes that restrict price increases to once every 12 months, prohibit retail fees for vulnerable customers, and remove 'unreasonably high penalties' for customers who aren't able to pay their bill one time. Coalition energy spokesman Dan Tehan said Labor 'must honour' its 2022 election commitment to reducing energy bills by $275 – a policy the party didn't rehash in the 2025 election. 'Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen said Australia was going to become an energy super power under their ideologically-driven renewable-only approach, yet the sad reality is that more and more Australians are being driven into energy poverty,' he said. His words come as the Coalition reviews its commitment to net-zero. Mr Tehan went as far as to say that Mr Bowen should quit as minister if energy bills don't come down. '(He) should resign because his incompetence is sadly causing untold hardship to more and more people,' Mr Tehan said.
The Advertiser
19-06-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
Energy price rule changes to limit unfair bill hikes
Energy retailers will be barred from raising bills more than once a year and will be forced to remove unfair fees for vulnerable customers under new rules announced by the market rule-maker. The move will help reduce the complexity and opacity of the poorly understood electricity system, and prevent customers from being ripped off, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said. The changes announced by the Australian Energy Market Commission include preventing retailers from increasing prices more than once a year, banning excessive fees for late payments, and prohibiting fees for vulnerable customers. Retailers must also ensure vulnerable Australians are receiving their best available plan. The changes are intended to clamp down on retailers who lure customers in with cheap deals, only to move them onto higher cost plans or impose hidden fees and charges. "I'm not going to pretend that they're a silver bullet, but clearly, the situation hasn't been working," Mr Bowen told ABC Radio National on Thursday. "There are many, many Australians, either in hardship or not in hardship, who aren't on their best possible plan. That's not their fault. We need to make it as easy as possible for them to change." Research has found about 40 per cent of Australians don't read their energy bill. More needs to be done to ensure time-poor consumers receive their best offer, Mr Bowen said. But it's only part of a broader reform process to make the energy system simpler and fairer, he said. On Wednesday, Mr Bowen flagged tweaks to so-called Default Market Offer rules in a bid to force energy companies to compete harder for customer dollars and prevent unfair price hikes. The regulations were intended to establish a benchmark price to limit price gouging and put downward pressure on prices through competition between energy companies, but were not working as planned, Mr Bowen told the Australian Energy Week conference in Melbourne. Mr Bowen flagged reforms to the Australian Energy Regulator's price-setting mechanism for NSW, South Australia and Queensland to better align with Victoria's rules. The commission's rule changes will be phased in over the course of next year, with the first tranche coming into effect on July 1 2026 and the remaining changes applying from December 30 2026. Energy retailers will be barred from raising bills more than once a year and will be forced to remove unfair fees for vulnerable customers under new rules announced by the market rule-maker. The move will help reduce the complexity and opacity of the poorly understood electricity system, and prevent customers from being ripped off, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said. The changes announced by the Australian Energy Market Commission include preventing retailers from increasing prices more than once a year, banning excessive fees for late payments, and prohibiting fees for vulnerable customers. Retailers must also ensure vulnerable Australians are receiving their best available plan. The changes are intended to clamp down on retailers who lure customers in with cheap deals, only to move them onto higher cost plans or impose hidden fees and charges. "I'm not going to pretend that they're a silver bullet, but clearly, the situation hasn't been working," Mr Bowen told ABC Radio National on Thursday. "There are many, many Australians, either in hardship or not in hardship, who aren't on their best possible plan. That's not their fault. We need to make it as easy as possible for them to change." Research has found about 40 per cent of Australians don't read their energy bill. More needs to be done to ensure time-poor consumers receive their best offer, Mr Bowen said. But it's only part of a broader reform process to make the energy system simpler and fairer, he said. On Wednesday, Mr Bowen flagged tweaks to so-called Default Market Offer rules in a bid to force energy companies to compete harder for customer dollars and prevent unfair price hikes. The regulations were intended to establish a benchmark price to limit price gouging and put downward pressure on prices through competition between energy companies, but were not working as planned, Mr Bowen told the Australian Energy Week conference in Melbourne. Mr Bowen flagged reforms to the Australian Energy Regulator's price-setting mechanism for NSW, South Australia and Queensland to better align with Victoria's rules. The commission's rule changes will be phased in over the course of next year, with the first tranche coming into effect on July 1 2026 and the remaining changes applying from December 30 2026. Energy retailers will be barred from raising bills more than once a year and will be forced to remove unfair fees for vulnerable customers under new rules announced by the market rule-maker. The move will help reduce the complexity and opacity of the poorly understood electricity system, and prevent customers from being ripped off, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said. The changes announced by the Australian Energy Market Commission include preventing retailers from increasing prices more than once a year, banning excessive fees for late payments, and prohibiting fees for vulnerable customers. Retailers must also ensure vulnerable Australians are receiving their best available plan. The changes are intended to clamp down on retailers who lure customers in with cheap deals, only to move them onto higher cost plans or impose hidden fees and charges. "I'm not going to pretend that they're a silver bullet, but clearly, the situation hasn't been working," Mr Bowen told ABC Radio National on Thursday. "There are many, many Australians, either in hardship or not in hardship, who aren't on their best possible plan. That's not their fault. We need to make it as easy as possible for them to change." Research has found about 40 per cent of Australians don't read their energy bill. More needs to be done to ensure time-poor consumers receive their best offer, Mr Bowen said. But it's only part of a broader reform process to make the energy system simpler and fairer, he said. On Wednesday, Mr Bowen flagged tweaks to so-called Default Market Offer rules in a bid to force energy companies to compete harder for customer dollars and prevent unfair price hikes. The regulations were intended to establish a benchmark price to limit price gouging and put downward pressure on prices through competition between energy companies, but were not working as planned, Mr Bowen told the Australian Energy Week conference in Melbourne. Mr Bowen flagged reforms to the Australian Energy Regulator's price-setting mechanism for NSW, South Australia and Queensland to better align with Victoria's rules. The commission's rule changes will be phased in over the course of next year, with the first tranche coming into effect on July 1 2026 and the remaining changes applying from December 30 2026. Energy retailers will be barred from raising bills more than once a year and will be forced to remove unfair fees for vulnerable customers under new rules announced by the market rule-maker. The move will help reduce the complexity and opacity of the poorly understood electricity system, and prevent customers from being ripped off, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said. The changes announced by the Australian Energy Market Commission include preventing retailers from increasing prices more than once a year, banning excessive fees for late payments, and prohibiting fees for vulnerable customers. Retailers must also ensure vulnerable Australians are receiving their best available plan. The changes are intended to clamp down on retailers who lure customers in with cheap deals, only to move them onto higher cost plans or impose hidden fees and charges. "I'm not going to pretend that they're a silver bullet, but clearly, the situation hasn't been working," Mr Bowen told ABC Radio National on Thursday. "There are many, many Australians, either in hardship or not in hardship, who aren't on their best possible plan. That's not their fault. We need to make it as easy as possible for them to change." Research has found about 40 per cent of Australians don't read their energy bill. More needs to be done to ensure time-poor consumers receive their best offer, Mr Bowen said. But it's only part of a broader reform process to make the energy system simpler and fairer, he said. On Wednesday, Mr Bowen flagged tweaks to so-called Default Market Offer rules in a bid to force energy companies to compete harder for customer dollars and prevent unfair price hikes. The regulations were intended to establish a benchmark price to limit price gouging and put downward pressure on prices through competition between energy companies, but were not working as planned, Mr Bowen told the Australian Energy Week conference in Melbourne. Mr Bowen flagged reforms to the Australian Energy Regulator's price-setting mechanism for NSW, South Australia and Queensland to better align with Victoria's rules. The commission's rule changes will be phased in over the course of next year, with the first tranche coming into effect on July 1 2026 and the remaining changes applying from December 30 2026.
Perth Now
18-06-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Energy price rule changes to limit unfair bill hikes
Energy retailers will be barred from raising bills more than once a year and will be forced to remove unfair fees for vulnerable customers under new rules announced by the market rule-maker. The move will help reduce the complexity and opacity of the poorly understood electricity system, and prevent customers from being ripped off, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said. The changes announced by the Australian Energy Market Commission include preventing retailers from increasing prices more than once a year, banning excessive fees for late payments, and prohibiting fees for vulnerable customers. Retailers must also ensure vulnerable Australians are receiving their best available plan. The changes are intended to clamp down on retailers who lure customers in with cheap deals, only to move them onto higher cost plans or impose hidden fees and charges. "I'm not going to pretend that they're a silver bullet, but clearly, the situation hasn't been working," Mr Bowen told ABC Radio National on Thursday. "There are many, many Australians, either in hardship or not in hardship, who aren't on their best possible plan. That's not their fault. We need to make it as easy as possible for them to change." Research has found about 40 per cent of Australians don't read their energy bill. More needs to be done to ensure time-poor consumers receive their best offer, Mr Bowen said. But it's only part of a broader reform process to make the energy system simpler and fairer, he said. On Wednesday, Mr Bowen flagged tweaks to so-called Default Market Offer rules in a bid to force energy companies to compete harder for customer dollars and prevent unfair price hikes. The regulations were intended to establish a benchmark price to limit price gouging and put downward pressure on prices through competition between energy companies, but were not working as planned, Mr Bowen told the Australian Energy Week conference in Melbourne. Mr Bowen flagged reforms to the Australian Energy Regulator's price-setting mechanism for NSW, South Australia and Queensland to better align with Victoria's rules. The commission's rule changes will be phased in over the course of next year, with the first tranche coming into effect on July 1 2026 and the remaining changes applying from December 30 2026.
Herald Sun
18-06-2025
- Business
- Herald Sun
Discount power bills: DMO crackdown by Labor will crush small energy retailers
The Albanese government's planned overhaul of household electricity price caps could put small energy retailers surviving on razor-thin profit margins out of business. The electricity industry was reeling at the policy proposal on Wednesday as intermittent coal outages in Victoria this winter stoke wholesale prices, a force that will inevitably be passed through to energy customers. Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen confirmed the government would review the Default Market Offer (DMO) – the benchmark power price in NSW, Queensland and South Australia – with a view to stripping out allowances that protect retailer margins. The idea is to bring the national standard into closer alignment with Victoria's more tightly regulated counterpart, the Victorian Default Offer (VDO), which will rise by less than 1 per cent in 2024–25. While the move is politically popular amid persistent cost-of-living pressures, it represents a gamble by the re-elected Labor government that could backfire by reducing utility competition as small retailers capitulate under further pressure. 'This is classic Trump-style politics – a distraction tactic,' one senior industry executive said speaking on the condition of anonymity. 'Labor is blaming retailers when even the ACCC acknowledges margins are at historic lows. All this will do is squeeze out smaller operators and reduce competition, with no discernible impact on prices.' The government's intent to unwind some components of the DMO – including retailer cost allowances – has reignited discussion over the true drivers of rising energy bills. Retailers argue the biggest pressure point is not retail margins, but network charges, which account for about 40 per cent of the DMO and are rising as transmission infrastructure is upgraded to support the transition to renewables. Network costs are approved by the government and are the fastest growing component of the DMO. Australian Energy Council chief executive Louisa Kinnear, which represents the country's retailers, said while a review of the DMO was welcome, it must be comprehensive in its scope as far as cost components go. 'Retail competition allowances have already been stripped out of the DMO in the name of affordability. Yet bills are still climbing, and it's not because of retail margins,' Ms Kinnear said. 'Retailers are also required to support customers facing hardship, which often means carrying bad debts. If we want prices that reflect actual costs, all elements of the DMO need to be under scrutiny.' AGL echoed that sentiment, insisting the review should not lose sight of the role of network costs. 'To reduce energy bills, we need to look at the whole picture. The government and industry are actively working on measures to reduce wholesale electricity costs. At 40 per cent of an average bill, network costs are a big component of bills and are continuing to grow quickly. 'A focus on improving network productivity is essential to keep these costs in check. Retail costs only represent around 10 per cent of an average bill and we need to carefully consider any moves that could lessen competition in the retail market, particularly if smaller retailers were no longer able to operate,' a spokesman for AGL said. Victoria, meanwhile, is facing a renewed test of its grid reliability as colder temperatures return and EnergyAustralia's Yallourn coal power station operates at just 25 per cent of its capacity. Yallourn, the state's second largest coal-powered generator, has been crippled by equipment failures, including a collapsed air duct, though the company has not disclosed the cause of outages at two of its four generating units. The outages and cold weather again leave Victoria with little wriggle room. The country's energy market operators expect sufficient capacity to minimise concerns about blackouts, but prices are forecast to surge. Households and businesses, however, do not pay wholesale electricity prices. The disruption is material for EnergyAustralia, which typically uses Yallourn to supply its retail customers and hedge against volatility in wholesale markets. With the coal plant hobbled, the utility is instead relying on more expensive gas peaking plants to meet demand – a margin-eroding outcome that it can only partially mitigate due to benign conditions in the gas market. Gas prices remain elevated but manageable, buoyed by near-record storage levels. However, continued outages at Yallourn could test those assumptions if winter demand intensifies. Originally published as Chris Bowen's default market offer crackdown will crush small energy retailers
