A government owned retailer has jacked up electricity tariffs by 25 pct – because it can

One of the first emails we opened on our return from holidays was an “eff-you” from our recently signed up government-owned electricity retailer, Momentum Energy, owned by Hydro Tasmania.

“The price of your electricity is about to change.” Momentum Energy via email

And not in a good way.

The government owned retailer has increased electricity tariffs by 25 pct, with the peak rate jumping to 45c/kWh (from 36.5c), the shoulder rate jumping to 39.6c/kWh (from 32.1c), and the off peak changing to 31.2c/kWh (from 25.3c). Even the controlled load jumps to 23.1c/kWh (from 17.8c/kWh).

In addition to these changes, the cost of being connected to the grid leaps to $2.66, meaning northern NSW residents will pay a fixed charge of $970 a year before importing, or exporting, their first kilowatt hour of electricity.

In the email sent to customers, Momentum Energy did not provide exactly where these prices hikes were coming from.

“Our review shows that some of these costs have changed, and this has influenced the price of your electricity.”

This is contrasted to the Australian Energy Regulator who advised that the default market offer price in NSW should only rise by 9.7 per cent.

Rising power prices threaten the energy transition, as renewables are wrongly blamed for these hikes despite evidence pointing to costly networks, ageing coal failures, and expensive gas.

The Australian Energy Regulator says customers should shop around for better offers. But Momentum is not offering one, and it is reported that the biggest retailers, AGL Energy and Origin Energy, are also bumping up their offers by more than the rate stipulated by the Default Market Offer, and by 13.5 per cent in NSW.

The AER’s promise and urging of “shopping around” may be of little use.

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