Today the Australian Energy Market Commission released its report on factors driving residential electricity prices over the next three years to 2015/16.

The report analyses trends in the competitive market sectors of the industry; the regulated networks sector; and resulting from government environmental policies in each state and territory.

AEMC Chairman, John Pierce, said the review’s consolidated results provided a national picture showing that average annual electricity prices can be expected to moderate over the next three years.

“Nationally we see falling pressure on prices coming from two areas– stabilising regulated network costs and changes in carbon pricing costs,” Mr Pierce said.

“Overall the national average annual increase will be lower than expected level of inflation at 1.2% a year from 2012/13 to 2015/16.

“States and territories will see different price trends due to local conditions and varying government policies including the ongoing costs of closed premium solar bonus schemes,” Mr Pierce said.

“Policies in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia allow for market offers – offering people a choice to switch away from standing offers.

“People who exercised that choice in 2012/13 were able to save around 5-16% by shopping around for the best deal. The discount depends on where consumers live, how much energy they use and how they prefer to manage their bills,” Mr Pierce said.

“Our analysis shows that across the nation – the regulated price is not the best offer available.

The AEMC 2013 Price Trends Report includes details on each state and territory. Individual jurisdictions show different price trends depending on population spread and density, climate, consumption choices, tariff structure, and government policies.