But at least one expert believes this excuse is a “total con” and price gouging is to blame.
“Our research shows that the cost of gas makes up just 3 per cent of your final bill and coal just 5 per cent,” The Australia Institute’s senior researcher David Richardson told The Daily Telegraph this week.
“It in no way explains why bills have gone up by 183 per cent on average over the last two decades.”
He’s not the only one who is just a little sceptical, which is why the Australian Competition and Consumer
Commission is now investigating prices in Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.
The behaviour of the retailers is especially relevant for residential customers because network charges, or what’s called the “poles and wires”, generally make up about 40 per cent of their bills.'
