CARBON tax uncertainty will see power prices doubling over six years, a leading supplier says.
And an industry body has warned Victorians will be hardest hit because of their reliance on bigger polluting brown coal generation.
A 40 per cent rise in prices in the past three years was driven by rising demand while spending on new power stations had stalled as the Government waited to set a final carbon tax policy, TRUenergy chief executive Richard McIndoe said.
He said the carbon tax would now add a further 30 per cent to household bills in the next three years.
“Over the last three years, electricity prices have gone up by 40 per cent,” he said yesterday.
“Over the next three years, we expect them to go up another 30 per cent … as a result of fuel costs going up and gas prices moving up.
“A carbon price will add another $300 per household on top of that.
“So over a six-year period, you’re seeing an effective doubling in electricity prices per household with no tangible benefit.”
Mr McIndoe said uncertainty over long-term carbon prices had stalled capital investment in the industry and in addition to driving up prices, could lead to power shortages.
Energy Supply Association of Australia chief executive officer Brad Page warned households could suffer the highest rises in bills because of their reliance on bigger-polluting brown coal generation.
“Because Victorians have higher emission generation from brown coal it is quite likely that their carbon costs will be higher than for consumers in other states, at least in the first three years,” he said.
“Changing our emissions in the electricity sector is supported by the industry, but something that takes time and a lot of money, and the faster you try to do it the more it is going to cost consumers.”
But AGL, one of the largest electricity and gas retailers in Victoria, believed the carbon tax would have a relatively minor impact on bills compared with other cost pressures.
Its analysis shows an average family’s electricity bill is likely to be $150 a year more under a carbon tax and pointed out the Government would compensate some of those people.
“The rise for household electricity from a carbon tax is likely to be less than $3 a week,” an AGL spokesman said. “This represents about 10 per cent of an average household’s annual electricity bill.
“The big drivers of the price increases will be multi-billion-dollar upgrades to the energy network, as well as rising fuel costs for coal and gas, and higher prices to build power generators.”
