Category: Consumer Protection / Electricity Energy and Utilities
Industry regulator rules on ACT gas bill charges
Thursday, 26 May 2016 11:05:50
The AER said the cost of finance to maintain gas infrastructure had fallen since its last decision in 2011. (Shaun Curry, file photo: AFP)
Gas bills for Canberra households are expected to be about $100 less than distributor ActewAGL had wanted next financial year after a ruling from the industry regulator.
The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has released its final decision on access arrangements for ActewAGL's gas network.
The decision allows ActewAGL to recover $301.4 million from its customers over five years until 2021.
The company had proposed to recover $382.6 million.
The AER said it did not accept the methodology proposed by ActewAGL to set its rate of return, but instead used methodology it developed as part of its Better Regulation program in 2013.
AER board member Jim Cox said the cost to maintain gas infrastructure had fallen since its last decision in 2011 and should be reflected in lower customer prices.
"The AER's role is to ensure that consumers pay no more than necessary for the safe and reliable delivery of gas by setting the overall revenue that businesses can recover from customers," he said.
Regulator expects savings to be passed on
The AER estimated if other bill components remained unchanged, the average Canberra household could expect a reduction of $107 than what was proposed for 2016/17.
The average annual gas bill for a small business was expected to be $849 less.
"The AER expects that retailers will pass through these savings. But we also urge consumers to shop around and take advantage of competitive retail market offers to ensure they get the benefits of today's decisions," Mr Cox said.
But, to meet the allowed revenue, bills for households and small businesses were expected to rise by 1.2 per cent annually for four years from 2017/18.
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