Electricity bills for the average ACT household will rise by about $10 per year as an interim measure while a legal challenge over cuts to power prices is pending, but households won't find out the full extent of bill hikes until next month.
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The Australian Energy Regulator approved a 1.5 per cent rise in power prices from July 1, in line with the rise in CPI.
Bills will increase by about $10 annually for the average ACT household using 7000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, and about $46 annually for the average small commercial customer using 30 megawatt-hours per year, ActewAGL energy networks general manager Stephen Devlin said.
ActewAGL's miscellaneous charges, such as meter installations, would increase by "slightly more" than the CPI, between 2.2 and 2.7 per cent.
Household electricity bills will rise by $10 to $15 a year for those living in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, while in country NSW the rise will be $30 to $35 a household.
The rise will apply to the network charges, accounting for about 40 per cent of household power bills.
Canberra households won't find out the full extent of annual power bill increases until June, when the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission decides on the regulated retail electricity prices accounting for the other 60 per cent of bills.
Mr Devlin said the network charges covered the costs of maintaining infrastructure like poles and powerlines, transmission and costs of ACT Government schemes such as the feed-in tariff.
Earlier this year, efforts by the regulator to force through price cuts were challenged by the power companies, which claimed the cuts would result in a deterioration of the services provided to households and businesses.
With the legal challenge due to start hearings in the Federal Court later this year, the AER had decided to allow a price rise in line with inflation, AER chairman Paula Conboy said.
"While it will still take some time to resolve the judicial review and remittal process, we've arrived at a solution which provides both consumers and the businesses with price stability in NSW and ACT network charges while the broader issues are addressed," she said.
Ms Conboy said there had been uncertainty over future prices since the Australian Competition Tribunal's decided in February to set aside the electricity distribution determinations made in April and June 2015.
- with Brian Robins
