Power bills set to fall from July for the first time in two...

Power bills set to fall from July for the first time in two years
By Nick Toscano
May 23, 2024 — 3.52pm
Homes and businesses will start to feel some relief from soaring electricity bills within weeks as authorities move to cut prices for hundreds of thousands of customers on the eastern seaboard by as much as 9 per cent for the first time in two years.In welcome news for households battling mounting cost-of-living stresses, the Australian Energy Regulator on Thursday locked in the main consumer price caps, known as default market offers, to begin from July 1, determining it would not raise prices in most regions for the coming financial year.Instead, it intends to modestly reduce most default offers – the maximum that retailers can charge customers on standard retail plans – by between 1 and 9 per cent.Households in NSW will receive a reduction of about 1 per cent, or about $28, compared with last year, while prices for businesses in the state will fall by up to 8 per cent, or $402.Prices in South Australia will be 2.8 per cent, or $63, lower for residential customers, and 8.8 per cent lower, or $512, for businesses, while prices in south-east Queensland will rise by 4.2 per cent ($83) for homes and 1 per cent ($44) for businesses.