A public advocacy group has said financial assistance should be tailored to help those in rural and regional New South Wales pay for electricity price increases in July.
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has recommended average electricity price increases of 16 per cent from July 1, blaming them on the introduction of the federal Labor government’s carbon price legislation and increasing network costs.
Under the draft determination, customers of EnergyAustralia face the biggest increase with a 19.2 per cent hike in prices, or $338 ar year for the average household.
Country Energy customers would be hit with a 17.6 per cent rise, while Integral Energy can increase its prices by a little more than 10 per cent.
Carolyn Hodge from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) told an IPART public forum that those in regional areas would be worst affected by the July 1 increase.
She called on the conservative Liberal-National state government to tailor assistance to meet the needs of those in rural and regional areas.
“People in rural, regional areas are spending more than 10 per cent of their disposable income (on their bill), and what that is an accepted definition of energy poverty,” Ms Hodge, a senior policy officer at the PIAC, said outside the forum in Sydney.
“Increases to rebates in NSW are not always keeping up.
“We’ve had a really good increase from the government last year but what we would also like to see is that for the most vulnerable people some bespoke type of assistance could be developed specifically for those in rural, regional areas, who are paying the highest increases this year.”
Addressing the forum, IPART chairman Dr Peter Boxall acknowledged the increased electricity prices would hurt some consumers.
“We recognise that these price rises are significant and will place substantial financial pressures on some sections of the community, particularly those with lower incomes,” he said.
IPART will make its final price determination in June.
