Homes charged more for power

Australian households are being charged $1000 a year more than big businesses to use exactly the same amount of electricity.

Analysis of AGL’s half yearly results shows the cost of electricity for ordinary Australian households has jumped by $100 a megawatt hour but for big business it has gone up by just $30.

Origin Energy bumped up residential bills by $72.30 a megawatt hour but hit business with just a $4.10 increase.

David Richardson, senior researcher at The Australia Institute, crunched the numbers and said Aussie families were being gouged by the energy giants in the middle of a cost-ofliving crisis.

Origin Energy last week announced that its profits had more than doubled in the past six months from $399m to $995m, AGL’s profits were up 78 per cent and EnergyAustralia’s revenue in Australia tripled to $94m.

The difference between what a typical household pays AGL and what a business is charged was already $131. The latest price rise has lifted the difference to a whopping $198.50.

An average household uses 2.76 megawatt hours of electricity every six months. That is costing them $276 more for six months than the previous year – $552 more a year.

It means AGL household customers are paying just over $1000 more than a big business for the same amount of electricity. For Origin Energy customers the gap between what a business is charged and a residential customer widened to $185.80.

Gas is two thirds cheaper for business. Householders pay AGL $37 per unit while large businesses pay two thirds less at just $12.30 a unit.

Mr Richardson said: “The government needs to do something about exploitative pricing behaviour of companies like AGL and Origin.”

An Origin spokeswoman said that direct comparisons between business and residential energy prices were “meaningless” because businesses pay half the network charges residential customers pay.