The AEC’s Chief Executive, Sarah McNamara, said, “Competition is the best way for customers to get the best deal for energy. And it becomes even more important when you consider the growth of new consumer energy technologies that can help consumers save money.
“Energy is rapidly shifting from being a utility service into a consumer good with users wanting choice and the ability to tailor the service to meet their needs.
“Competition will deliver innovation in tools and technologies that enhance customer experience and will help drive that shift.
“Full retail competition for electricity has already been introduced into every other mainland state in Australia.
“And the ACCC found in its October assessment of retail electricity markets in other states the average price paid by residential customers on competitive tariffs was 17 per cent lower than those on regulated prices set by government.
“The competition watchdog found that households using the grid and shifting to competitive deals could save $219 a year while small businesses could cut their bill by a quarter and save around $424 a year on average. So, we know competition works and the sooner it is introduced the better.
“We have also seen the benefits of competition in WA’s gas market. That same drive to compete and win over customers through better deals and service offerings will emerge in electricity,” Ms McNamara said.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.