SA Power Networks goes to Federal Court in new bid to raise electricity prices
THE Treasurer has blasted SA Power Networks for taking its bid to raise $180 million from SA customers to the Federal Court, after a second attempt to raise prices was rejected last month.
- Tribunal rejects SA Power Networks’ bid to increase prices
- Koutsantonis seeks to short circuit power price rise
- SA Power Networks pushes to be able to charge more
- Why South Australia has very high electricity costs
OWNERS of SA’s electricity network operator have made a last-ditch bid to the Federal Court seeking permission to charge for extra revenue in a move that would increase household bills.
Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis says he is seeking fresh legal advice after being alerted on Friday that SA Power Networks had escalated a long-running price dispute to the Federal Court.
SAPN, formerly ETSA, operates the state’s network of poles, wires and power substations.
The Australian Energy Regulator last year ruled SAPN could raise $3.84 billion in revenue from customers between 2015 and 2020, well short of the $4.53 billion it had been seeking.
SAPN then applied to the Australian Competition Tribunal for a review of the regulator’s decision and sought to increase its allowance by $250 million. That bid was rejected last month. SAPN’s new court appeal is over $180 million in costs the company says it should be allowed to recover from consumers, and comes amid similar bids from network operators in other states.
Mr Koutsantonis said there would be no impact on SA prices until the matter was resolved by the Federal Court, and the Government would take every step it could to stand up for consumers.
“It is extremely disappointing that SAPN are continuing with attempts to charge South
Australians more for electricity distribution after both the Regulator and the Australian
Competition Tribunal have rejected their claims,” Mr Koutsantonis said.
Distribution costs make up around a third of the average electricity bill. Other major components include the cost of generating electricity in power stations and fees paid to retailers.
“Enough is enough,” Mr Koutsantonis said.
“There is a reason why two independent national bodies have found that SAPN should not be allowed to charge ... more, and that is because the increases they are seeking are not justified.”
He said the Government would try to make submissions to the Federal Court, and claimed the privatisation of ETSA two decades ago had “locked in high prices” for SA consumers.
The Opposition has criticised the Government for pursuing an aggressive green energy strategy through policies that encourage wind farm development, and say the headlong rush into new technologies has wildly increased the price of wholesale electricity in the state.
Business SA and other industry groups have also warned the state risks becoming uncompetitive as power prices are forecast to spike well above other jurisdictions in the coming years.
An SAPN spokesman confirmed the company “has lodged an appeal with the Federal Court seeking judicial review of decisions by the Australian Competition Tribunal relating to the Australian Energy Regulator’s distribution determination for SA for 2015-2020”.
“We believe that the tribunal has made some errors in applying the law and, as previously done by the AER, we will utilise our right to challenge those decisions,” the spokesman said.