State-owned energy retailer Synergy will significantly increase tariffs for its medium-to-large business customers from July to counteract increased costs in power generation and transmission.
State-owned energy retailer Synergy will significantly increase tariffs for its medium-to-large business customers from July to counteract increased costs in power generation and transmission.
State-owned energy retailer Synergy will significantly increase tariffs for its medium-to-large business customers from July to counteract increased costs in power generation and transmission.
The rises in tariffs, which range from nine to 18 per cent for the current year, will affect about 8,300 businesses.
About 90 per cent of those affected, customers with an annual electricity bill of about $8,000, will face the smallest increase of 9 per cent in July. This will be followed by a 5 per cent increase in each year to 2011-2012.
This will take tariffs for those businesses from $1.09 per day to $1.19 in July, reaching $1.44 by the end of the five-year period. For the remaining 10 per cent of large businesses, tariffs will increase by either $91.32 or $128.17 per day over the next four years.
Businesses on the T1 tariff, which use a large amount of high voltage energy with a moderate to high load factor, currently pay a minimum charge per day of $295.11.
These customers – including major mining companies, shopping centres and manufacturing companies – will pay a tariff of $348.23 from July 1, followed by a 5 per cent increase in each of the following four years.
This equates to a tariff of $423.28 by 2011-12.
Those customers on the S1 band typically use a larger amount of energy at a low to medium voltage and a moderate to high load factor.
They will face an increase of 15 per cent next financial year, from $229.53 to $263.96, reaching $320.85 by the end of the period.
Energy Minister Fran Logan attributed the price hike to the state’s booming economy, rather than electricity reform.
“This will be the first increase to large business tariffs in 15 years, and will avoid a steeper increase in future years,” Mr Logan said.
“It is important to remember that all 8,300 business customers can choose their electricity supplier under the government’s electricity reforms.”
Mr Logan said tariffs for residential and small business customers would be frozen until 2009.
Synergy will also increase its account establishment fee by nearly 8 per cent, to $29.80, from July, and will increase its overdue account notice fee to $4.10.
The company will introduce a new $8 rejected payment fee, to recover its direct costs associated with payment rejection.