Price falls may disappoint

WHILE a competitive power market place will bring discounts, those expecting eastern states-style price drops will be disappointed.

On 1 January the supply of power to customers using from one megawatt to five megawatts a year will be deregulated. WA Consolidated Power has already put its hand up to compete in the marketplace.

It is expected such competition will drive prices down. When the eastern states market was deregulated some customers enjoyed large price reductions.

However, Western Power general manager marketing and sales John Lillywhite said that would not necessarily be the case in WA.

“The market structure in WA is entirely different. The east coast runs on a wholesale generation pool,” Mr Lillywhite said.