Affordability

As a regulated business, the prices we can charge customers for the network services they receive are approved each year by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).

There are two categories of prices:

• Network charges: the cost to deliver electricity to your home or business via the high voltage transmission network as well as our distribution network
• Alternative control services: metering, public lighting and various customer requested service charges (for example, connection costs for new residential developments).

The network and metering charges form part of the electricity bill you receive from your energy retailer. On average, these charges are about 33% of a Powercor customer’s bill and 29% of a CitiPower customer’s bill.

The network charge you pay depends on which tariff you have selected to be on with your energy retailer. There are various options available, for example:

• Different classes of tariffs depending on where you draw your power from and how much you use: low voltage residential, low voltage business, large low voltage, high voltage and sub-transmission
• Categories of tariffs for each class depending on when you use power: fixed charge, peak energy rate, shoulder energy rate, off peak energy rate, demand rate.

How much we can charge in total for these is subject to a revenue cap. This form of control is managed by the AER. It means that each year, we need to ensure the proposed prices and the quantity of services proposed for the next year will not result in us receiving more revenue than was approved by the AER.

Your electricity bill represents all the costs associated with supplying power to your home or business. Network and metering charges are among these costs.

The average annual bill comprises:

• Wholesale electricity costs charged by generators
• Retail charges
• Environmental policies set by governments
• Transmission network costs
• Distribution network costs
• Metering charges.

The value of these costs varies enormously from state to state. In Victoria, the forecast total household electricity bill is the lowest in the country at around $1,082.