AEMO’s intervention triggered market rules thatguarantee compensation payments to the companies,which will be recouped from retail companies and passed on to customers.
Ai Group principal national adviser Tennant Reed said while AEMO hadn’t completed a tally of compensation payouts,it was possible to make a rough estimate based on AEMO data to show the total figure will be around $1.5 billion for market interventions made before and during the market suspension.
St Vincent de Paul Society energy policy analyst Gavin Dufty said the compensation costs,averaged out across all electricity customers,would reach about $70 per bill,but the electricity market rules state the amount of compensation paid by each customer is set by their electricity consumption.
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This means people who have been able to afford rooftop solar and energy-efficient appliances would likely pay significantly less than renters and homeowners who did not have these assets.
“This cost pass-through could come around Christmas time,which would land on top of other cost-of-living expenses,which are usually highest that time of year,” Dufty said.
“State governments have concession regimes that could be tweaked so they absorb some of these costs,or another way could be so the charges are smoothed out over time rather than a lump sum coming through all at once.