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Hornery, Sonia to the
Minister for Resources and Energy, Special Minister of State, and Minister for the Central Coast
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- Why have electricity prices risen by 80 per cent over five years?
- How will the Government use the $240 million dividend from Ausgrid, given
the company doubled its profit to $351 million in the past year?
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Answer -
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- and (2) The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal has confirmed that
Labor's carbon tax has had a significant impact on rising power bills from 1
July.
Increased network charges are a result of the previous
Government, under then Energy Minister Frank Sartor, issuing licence conditions
that locked in increased network charges for the period 2009-2014. This
increased expenditure is directly reflected in rising network charges for NSW
electricity customers across all distribution networks.
The previous
Government also recieved $14.2 billion in dividends and tax equivalent payments
from the electricity businesses while watching electricity prices rise by over
70 per cent in its last five years in office.
By comparison the
Government has capped electricity company dividends at forecast levels and is
requiring electricity company directors to personally certify that dividend
payments place no additional pressure on prices or reliability of supply.
The best way to stop electricity prices from rising is to scrap the
carbon tax and federal green schemes and policies which have the full support
of the NSW Labor Party. Scrapping the carbon tax and federal green schemes
would save the average NSW household approximately $270 on its annual household
bill.
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Question asked on 22 November 2012 (session 55-1)
and printed in
Questions & Answers Paper No. 130
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Answer due on 27 December 2012
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