Power price drops linked to mild weather and more renewables
There's hope for some electricity bill relief, with a new report from the energy regulator revealing wholesale prices in Australia fell by up to 64 percent last year.
Transcript
00:00 This is actually the latest quarterly report from the Australian Energy Regulator.
00:08 So this is looking into the wholesale prices and it's actually revealed that electricity
00:13 prices across the national electricity market, which covers all the East Coast and South
00:18 Australia and Tassie, has actually fallen between 44% and 64%, as you said, over the
00:25 past year annually.
00:26 And also what we've seen as well is the cost of gas along the East Coast falling by 43%
00:33 last year.
00:34 Now this is all due to milder weather conditions, so obviously lower demand for electricity,
00:40 as well as lower fuel costs, fewer issues in terms of getting those coal supplies, and
00:47 also a real boost in cheaper wind and solar energy too.
00:53 Now what we've heard from the regulator is that it is also unfortunately a matter of
00:57 where you live.
00:58 So while New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria have seen a fall, there has been
01:03 an increase in terms of wholesale prices in Tasmania and also Queensland, of course, where
01:08 we have seen those really hot and humid conditions putting a lot of strain on air conditioning
01:12 units up there.
01:14 Gas prices have also risen slightly in the last quarter.
01:17 However, the regulator does say that generally on a longer term average, we're actually starting
01:22 to come back to those longer term general wholesale prices, which is good news.
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