Electricity bills fall to eight-year low, new ACCC report finds

Australians are being encouraged to shop around to get a better deal on their power bill after a new report found household electricity prices are at an eight-year low.

An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission review found the average electricity bill fell by $128 to $1434 last financial year.

But it’s not all good news. Household power bills remain 32 per cent higher than 2008 prices – when the ACCC started compiling data.

ACCC chair Rod Simms said while he expects prices to continue to decline, governments should remain wary of the high cost.

“Electricity prices are on a downward trend, but we want industry and governments to continue working on this because prices are still much higher than they were just over a decade ago,” Mr Sims said.

Of the $128 average saving, more than half came from falls in wholesale electricity costs.

The ACCC review found prices were driven down by more solar and wind generation, cheaper coal, and on the demand side, mild weather and increased household solar generation.

Household electricity cost 27 cents per kilowatt-hour on average in 2020, compared to 20 cents in 2008.

Energy Minister Angus Taylor said it was critical consumers looked around to make sure they were getting the best deal.

“There’s great deals around, it’s really important that people shop around,” he told Nine radio.

“I was brought in as the minister for bringing electricity prices down when I became energy minister, three years ago, and we’ve driven them down.”