FARMERS says the Palaszczuk government has missed the point on electricity pricing, despite allowing regional electricity customers to return to Ergon even after they switch to another energy retailer.
Queensland Farmers’ Federation president Stuart Armitage said the removal of the ‘non-reversion’ policy was the first step in securing affordable energy for farmers and regional businesses.
However, with the change only extending to small customers (those under 100 megawatts) it is unlikely to benefit the many agricultural businesses looking for energy price relief, he said.
If action is not taken, unsustainable electricity price increases and lagging productivity will result in more expensive food and fibre and a loss of international competitiveness.
- Stuart Armitage, Queensland Farmers Federation
“QFF has been advocating for the small business customer threshold to be increased from 100 megawatt hours per year to 160 MWh per year for some time,” Mr Armitage said.
“Without this, not many agricultural businesses or other small customers are going to benefit from this regulatory amendment.
“Currently small business customers consuming over 100MW are subjected to dollar/kilowatt demand charges, significantly increasing electricity bills.
“They are also unable to access the Queensland Government’s Affordable Energy Plan which includes access to Ergon’s Easy Pay Rewards package of annual payments of $75 for residents and $120 for small businesses.”
Mr Armitage said many small farming and irrigation enterprises had been excluded, leaving them to struggle with high fixed costs and denied access to any of the rewards packages on offer.
“And based on current state government policy and tariff offerings, many agricultural businesses face further bill increases in excess of 50 per cent when they are forced on to standard business demand-based tariffs in less than two years,” Mr Armitage said.
“If action is not taken, unsustainable electricity price increases and lagging productivity will result in more expensive food and fibre and a loss of international competitiveness.”
