More South Australian households to pay hundreds of dollars more for their electricity each year

A SECOND major power retailer has revealed big price hikes, adding an average $390 to electricity bills, in the latest blow to households struggling under the burden of soaring utilities costs.

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A SECOND major power retailer has revealed big price hikes, adding an average $390 to electricity bills, in the latest blow to households struggling under the burden of soaring utilities costs.

EnergyAustralia’s residential customers will incur the increase from July 1, while small businesses face a $967 annual rise.

South Australian householders have been urged to check their letterboxes for bad news as other retailers follow the lead of AGL, which last week announced an average $350 annual increase on the average household bill.

Electricity companies contacted by The Advertiser said they would take out advertisements and inform customers in writing over the coming days as they comply with laws requiring an announcement of prices before July 1.

EnergyAustralia chief customer officer Kim Clarke admitted on Thursday that the 19.9 per cent rise for householders was “bad news for families and businesses and absolutely not what they wanted to hear”.

“Today, getting electricity to our customers costs more right across the energy chain. In the past 12 months alone, wholesale prices for both electricity and gas have surged, almost doubling in some states,” he said.

Power customers are advised to visit www.energymadeeasy.gov.au to shop around for the best offer.

St Vincent de Paul Society spokesman Gavin Dufty said that from July 1, the organisation would analyse the extremely complex market offers being made by all retailers, after they had revealed their increases.

Each year, it publishes a summary of options for customers seeking to switch providers and save money.

The Advertiser understands many electricity retailers are seeking to conceal their increases by only responding to media requests for information, rather than making announcements.

Mr Dufty urged people to check for notifications from companies over the next week by mail or on websites.

He said customers should also go to the electricity comparison service at the government website www.energymadeeasy.gov.au to shop around for the best offer.

“People should be careful because many of the companies will still have the current year’s rates on the site and they should wait until after July 1,’’ he said.

EnergyAustralia customers in Queensland and NSW, where the company also trades, will be subjected to the same increases as SA, where it has 80,000 customers.

Ms Clarke blamed recent increases in the cost of buying bulk electricity from generators for the increases, with the increases passed on through retail sales.

Her comments were supported this week in a report by the Essential Services Commission of South Australia, which found similar large increases in retail prices last year were justified by the increase in wholesale electricity costs to the retailers.

Ms Clarke said gas bills will also rise by 9.3 per cent, or around $80 per year on average.

Also, for small to medium-size businesses, electricity will increase $967 (19.9 per cent) a year on average and gas $18 a week (13.3 per cent).

Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis told ABC radio this week that he anticipated some of the 17 retailers who have customers in SA would decrease their price to take advantage and encourage people to switch providers.

However, none of the retailers contacted by The Advertiser would commit to this.