The topic Australia politics live: Energy minister asks regulator to investigate big jump in… is drawing steady attention: readers, analysts, and industry watchers are all tracking how the story may unfold in the days ahead.
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Chris Bowen has asked energy retailers to explain why some of their prices are going up from 1 July when they’re supposed to go the other way, under the latest default market offer.
But long story short, households in most parts of the country are supposed to see prices fall up to 10%, according to the data the Australian Energy Regulator’s final offer for 2026-27.
The energy minister says that not all companies have to apply the default market offer to their prices, but he’s referred retailers to the Australian competition and consumer commission (ACCC) to look for any misconduct where those prices should be coming down.
double quotation markCompanies have to comply with the default market offer for their relevant default offers, but they don’t have to apply it to all their market offers. We’ve seen some companies, not all, far from it, choose to increase their fixed supply costs while reducing their per-kilowatt hour costs.
What I’ve asked the regulators to do is look at that and ensure it complies, particularly with the prohibited misconduct provisions in energy market laws, which require companies to pass on sustained reductions in energy costs through their bills.
I understand these fixed-cost increases have caused a lot of concern. People have raised them with me, quite rightly, and I’ve raised them with energy companies.