Canberra households will see their electricity bills cut by an average $80 from July after a decision by the pricing regulator on Monday.
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Bills are falling partly because electricity is cheaper for ActewAGL to buy in the wholesale electricity market, and partly because of a decision by the national regulator this year to cut ActewAGL's allowance for running its electricity network.
ACT electricity prices are set by the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission, whose senior commissioner Malcolm Gray said prices would fall an average 4.58 per cent for householders.
For a typical customer, one using about 8000kWh a year, that meant a cut of $80 a year, to a bill of about $1660.
For larger residential customers, using 12,000kWh a year, the bill will fall $113, to $2360.
For non-residential electricity users, average bills will be cut about $290, to $5980 for a business using 25,000kWh a year.
The cost to ActewAGL of buying electricity is set fall by 4.8 per cent from July, down from $49 to $46 a megawatt hour.
The extra cost of renewable energy through the small-scale schemes and the government's large-scale schemes, though, will rise by 16 per cent, from $8.50 to $9.80 a megawatt hour. Network costs are to fall 9 per cent, from $98 to $89 a megawatt hour - accounting for most of the overall decrease in electricity bills.
Chief executive Michael Costello announced 83 job cuts in the wake of the decision, with staff to go in July, and again in September and October, and is challenging the decision in the courts.
Cutting ActewAGL's allowance from the $371 million requested to $240 million, the Australian Energy Regulator pointed to significant inefficiencies at the Canberra power company, saying it could be running its distribution network at much lower costs without compromising safety and reliability.
Asked about the increase in the cost of renewables, ActewAGL's retail manager Ayesha Razzaq said renewable energy certificates were trading at a higher price as a result of uncertainty over the federal renewable energy target and because there was less surplus in the market.
She said despite the fall in people's power bills, ActewAGL was still encouraging people to save energy, including through its offer to replace people's halogen downlight bulbs with LED bulbs at no cost. The move could save an average household with 25 bulbs $238 a year, she said.
