Australia’s electricity market rule maker will push ahead with a hotly contested recommendation to radically change how network costs are recovered from customers, while opting to put dodgy retailer behaviour to the sunlight test, rather than banning it.
The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) on Thursday published the final recommendations from its Pricing Review: Electricity pricing for a consumer-driven future, settling on four directives, revised and pared back from the six draft recommendations published in December last year.
The AEMC says the four final recommendations are designed to simplify electricity retailing rules and prices, reduce penalties for disengagement, improve information and tools, and reform network pricing to address upstream cost drivers.
“Electricity pricing has become too complex, too hard to compare, and too often unfair. You shouldn’t need to be an energy expert to get a fair deal, and long-standing customers should not pay more than someone who just walked in the door,” AEMC chair Anna Collyer said in statement on Thursday.
“This review sets out a clear roadmap for change. These are recommendations only, bringing them to life will require further work, consultation and collaboration with consumer representatives, industry and governments over the years ahead.”
