Households hit with $1000 power bill rise, shattering Labor's election promise

Most South Australians are forking out a lot more for power than Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen promised, new data shows. SEE HOW MUCH & WHAT YOU CAN DO.

EXCLUSIVE: The full scale of federal Labor’s epic fail on power prices can be revealed for the first time, with average SA households now paying nearly $1000 a year more than Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen promised.

New data from the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) shows the annual median electricity cost was more than $2400 in the year through June.

Based on the now-infamous power price-cut promise Mr Albanese and Mr Bowen made before the 2022 election, that bill should have been about $1450.

In December 2021, five months before winning office, the pair released Labor’s “Powering Australia” policy, supported by modelling which said a Labor government would “cut power bills for families and businesses by $275 a year for homes by 2025, compared to today.”

The AER’s data shows that at the time the claim was made, the average annual cost for power in SA was about $1730.

Average SA households are now paying nearly $1000 a year more than Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen promised. Picture: iStock

And South Australia is not an outlier. The vow to cut prices has not been kept anywhere in the National Energy Market.

These estimates do not include the impact of $300 taxpayer-funded rebate from Canberra during 2024-25.

Federal opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan said “these are, once again, very disturbing figures.

“Electricity bills continue to go up and there seems there is no end to the rise,” Mr Tehan said.

“The question people want Chris Bowen to answer is, when will prices start going down like you promised, or is true that you have been lying to the Australian people about what is happening and will continue to happen to electricity bills?”

Mr Bowen said “it’s clear that bills are too high. We acted in the short term with energy bill rebates and are working to rebuild a fairer grid that is less reliant on ageing, expensive coal.

“But this progress can all be undone if the Coalition get their way to drive up bills and pollution,” the Climate Change and Energy Minister said.

Labor’s promise to lower prices was based on increasing the supply of renewables in the grid – in part by fast-tracking transmission infrastructure for solar and wind projects through $20 billion of low-cost finance from a new “Rewiring the Nation Corporation”.

For example, the corporation’s help would “bring forward” a Western Victoria transmission project’s completion date from 2047 to 2025, modelling commissioned by Labor to support Powering Australia said.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said “it’s clear that bills are too high.” Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

However, building is not expected to start until 2027 at the earliest.

Similarly, the corporation would accelerate a transmission project in the Gippsland region by four years so that it was finished in 2025.

Building of that project has also yet to start.

Consumers can reduce their bills themselves by hunting down a cheaper tariff.

AER Board Member Jarrod Ball said “there are savings available for customers who shop around for a better deal.

“Visit Energy Made Easy … to compare your current plan against others,” Mr Ball said. “If you can find a better plan for your individual circumstances, consider switching. You can also ask your retailer to be put on their best available plan.”

The AER’s report showed AGL’s customer numbers declined by 22,000 over the past financial year, while EnergyAustralia’s dropped nearly 70,000. The other big retailer, Origin, added about 30,000.

Collectively they still controlled about 60 per cent of the market.

So-called second-tier retailers gained nearly 140,000 customers, with the overall market growing by nearly 80,000.

Originally published as Households hit with $1000 power bill rise, shattering Labor's election promise