Page 1997 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 5 August 2014
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I ask leave to make a statement in relation to the papers.
Leave granted.
MR BARR: I present to the Assembly two final reports of the ICRC. The ICRC Act 1997 requires the referring authority for an investigation to present the Assembly with the final report of those investigations undertaken by the commission. As the referring authority for these investigations, I present the commission’s final report and price direction for the standing offer prices for the supply of electricity to small customers in the ACT from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2017.
The prices outlined in these reports are the electricity prices charged by ActewAGL to residential users on a standard retail contract. It is estimated that these prices apply to 81 per cent of all ACT small customers. The final report and price direction was the result of an extensive investigation by the ICRC which was informed by consultation with the community, ActewAGL and the government.
As a result of the changes to carbon pricing that have occurred at the commonwealth level, the ICRC calculated two standing offer prices: one with a price on carbon and the other without. As the Australian government repealed the carbon tax legislation on 17 July, the price without carbon determination has now taken effect.
The ICRC has determined that the impact of removing the price on carbon will be a price decrease of 7.3 per cent compared to 2013-14 prices. For an average household consuming 8,000 kilowatt hours a year this would mean a decrease of $143 in electricity bills in 2014-15. The ICRC’s final report for retail prices to small customers takes into account a decrease in energy purchase costs for retailers as well as the costs of the ACT’s small-scale and large-scale solar auction schemes.
The ICRC advises that the ACT small-scale and large-scale solar auction schemes will cost $21.8 million in 2014-15, which translates to around $69 per household per annum. The costs of the ACT small-scale and large-scale solar auction schemes account for around 4.6 per cent of the regulated energy prices.
ActewAGL has released an updated schedule of charges from 1 July 2014 which takes into account the removal of the carbon price for ACT customers. These charges have been approved by the ICRC as consistent with the pricing decisions for customers who are on a standard retail contract.
I commend both reports to the Assembly.
Papers
Mr Corbell presented the following papers:
Developing an ACT crisis response to women with disabilities who experience domestic violence and/or sexual assault—Report of the ACT Disability and Community Services Commissioner, dated 27 June 2014.
Legislation (Penalty Units) Amendment Bill 2014—Revised presentation speech.
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