Graph of the Day: Australia’s soaring electricity prices

Our Graph of the Day this time focuses on the massive rises in electricity prices in Australia over the last five years, and how the compare with cities around the world.

This graph was included in Hong Kong-based CLP Holdings annual results, as part of its explanation for the profit slump in its local subsidiary EnergyAustralia.

This and the following graphs are fairly self explanatory. The first ones give the average rise in costs, the second the current prices in world cities, and the third is the cause for the sharp rise in NSW (mostly network).  The first graph shows electricity prices based on average consumption of 3,300kWh a year. It should be noted that Australian average consumption is about double that, although it is falling.

This second graph shows the comparison between cities. No wonder those cities featuring at the high end, and with at least a little sun, are proving to be among the most vibrant markets for rooftop solar PV.

And for those wondering what has been the cause of those price rises, here it is again in another format. This graph, also from EnergyAustralia, shows the component increase in NSW from 2007/08 to 2012/13. It’s pretty self explanatory, network costs accounted for half the bills five years ago, have accounted for around two thirds of the increase in the ensuing years, and now account for more than half of the current bill.

Previously, on Graph of the day: How fossil fuels lose out to wind and solar