Australia’s retail electricity market is not delivering for consumers. More than a third of consumers are paying more than the default price, customers on older plans continue to pay a ‘loyalty tax’ through higher prices, and, on average, customers could save $291 per year just by switching to their retailers’ best offer.
Only about 20 per cent of customers switch retailers in any given year. Despite government efforts to make switching easier, electricity remains confusing for many consumers. At last count, there were 145,500 plans in the market. No wonder people are confused.
And as federal government bill rebates expire, many customers will suffer bill shock this year. Australians are rightly looking to government to rein in power prices and curb bad behaviour by electricity retailers.
But none of these are reasons to introduce further price regulation into the retail electricity sector. This submission shows what should – and should not – happen now.