Power bills set to rise by at least 35 per cent, South Australians warned

South Australians, brace yourselves – electricity bills are set to rise by a minimum of 35 per cent in 2023. Here’s why.

Punch-drunk South Australian household budgets are set for a knockout blow following a dire forecast that power bills will soar by hundreds of dollars next year.

Alinta chief executive Jeff Dimery said power prices would go up by a minimum of 35 per cent in 2023 amid a choppy energy transition and the closure of coal plants.

One of the big three retailers, Origin Energy, said wholesale prices indicated the hike was likely to hit the market once new tariffs were set in July 2023.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission revealed on Tuesday households’ power bills have already soared by an average of $300 over the last six months.

Chair of the ACCC Gina Cass-Gottlieb. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb told an economics committee hearing there were “many reasons” for the 25 per cent price spike hurting households in all eastern and southern states.

She said this included the war in Ukraine, unexplained power outages, as well as flooding affecting coal mines and coal-fired generators.

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the “global energy crunch” and extreme weather events had also contributed to rising power prices.

“The Albanese government is wasting no time delivering a stable policy framework to reduce volatility in the market, put downward pressure on prices and encourage increased investment in transmission and firmed renewables to keep the lights on,” he said.

The federal government’s capacity to intervene in the energy crisis will be limited by a worsening economic outlook.

The federal budget is also set to take a hit after revelations a $500m “black hole” has emerged in a key Labor policy.

Prior to the election Labor claimed its policy to increase penalties for businesses who wrong their customers would raise $557.7m in its first four years.

But Treasury’s costing of the Government’s legislation shows that it will actually raise a mere $63m in that period.

SA Council of Social Service chief executive Ross Womersley said current state government energy concessions would not be enough to cover the “yawning gap” if power costs continued to escalate.

A state government spokesman said the cost-of-living concession has doubled for eligible households, and the National Energy Regulator was reviewing how to strengthen protections for vulnerable customers.

In a statement, he said high electricity prices were the legacy of the previous federal and state governments.

He said South Australians had been left vulnerable to global increases in gas prices and “increasing fallibility” of ageing coal-fired power in the eastern states.