Draft electricity price caps released
- Published:
- 19 March 2024 8:00AM
New electricity prices will start from 1 July 2024 following consultation and decisions by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and Queensland Competition Authority (QCA).
South East Queensland (SEQ) prices
On 19 March 2024, the AER released its draft default price for how much energy retailers can charge customers on default plans.
It is known as the Default Market Offer (DMO) or standing offer contract, and applies to households and small businesses in South East Queensland (SEQ), New South Wales and South Australia.
Around 9% of households are on a DMO, others are on market offers. SEQ customers can shop around for a better deal, or choose to go on the DMO.
AER invites written submissions on its draft price before reaching a final decision on the 2024–25 price cap in May.
Regional prices
For regional Queensland, the QCA regulates prices based on the cost of supplying electricity in SEQ.
Our Community Service Obligation (CSO) ensures regional electricity users pay a similar price to SEQ, regardless of their location. In 2023–24, the CSO is budgeted at more than $540m.
Only Ergon Retail and Origin Energy (Goondiwindi–Texas area) customers receive the CSO subsidy.
Most other states do not have a CSO, which can mean their retail prices vary much more between distribution areas. There, the AER sets the DMO for each individual distribution network area that has no other form of retail price regulation.
More information
Read about price decisions on the AER and QCA websites.
Learn more about electricity retail prices.