The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has released its final decision on the costs that Victorian electricity distributors can pass on to consumers for electricity poles, wires and metering.
Under the new ruling, Victorian householders will save an average of between $50 and $120 on their electricity bills between 2016-20, with small businesses seeing electricity bills cut by up to $99.
These network costs account for up to half of a typical power bill. Under the proposals made by the distributors to the AER, electricity bills would have increased by up to $225 by 2020.
The Victorian Government also made a submission to the AER advocating for lower network charges for Victorian households and businesses.
The AER’s decision confirms that Victoria’s electricity distributors are operating relatively efficiently compared to other service providers in the national electricity market.
Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio said, “We are putting Victorian households and businesses first and have advocated strongly for network charges to be reduced.
“This is a win for Victorian consumers and for the Andrews Labor Government’s strong position to ensure we have fairer and lower power prices in Victoria.”
