Meagre saving to annual power bills

QUEENSLAND’S Energy Minister Anthony Lynham is trumpeting a $20 annual power bill saving for regional families as the biggest in a decade.

Annual bills for regional households will drop from $1542 to $1522, and from $2568 to $2482 for small businesses in 2018-19, according to final calculations released by the Queensland Competition Authority yesterday.

The meagre saving is even less than the QCA’s February draft projections, which estimated a $35 fall for households and a $110 drop for businesses.

QCA chair professor Roy Green put the difference down to an increase in costs related to the federal government’s renewable energy target.

“This the second time in three years that households will see a cut in their power bills,” Dr Lynham said.