ELECTRICITY COMPETITION
THRESHOLD
1051. Hon PETER COLLIER to
the minister representing the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the answer to question
without notice 946, in which the minister stated —
� the Minister for Energy has
requested that Energy Policy WA investigate potential arrangements required to
deliver retail choice for small business electricity customers.
(1) Do the
potential arrangements for small businesses include lowering the electricity
competition threshold below 50 megawatt hours; and, if not, why not?
(2) Will the
minister table the request to Energy Policy WA to investigate potential
arrangements for small business electricity customers; and, if not, why not?
(3) If yes to (1), why can
businesses have access to competition but not households?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following information has been provided to me
by the Minister for Energy.
(1) Yes.
(2) I am unable
to do so, as the request was made orally. I made an initial request to Energy
Policy WA for advice on 9 May 2019 as part of a more general discussion of
stakeholder representations addressing this and other matters.
(3) Currently,
small businesses in embedded networks pay some of the highest cost electricity
in Western Australia. These small businesses do not have the option of buying
electricity from Synergy, and so do not
benefit from having a government energy offer. These reforms will, for the
first time, allow these small businesses to obtain the benefit of
Synergy's energy offer. This is the reverse for householders, who
already benefit from obtaining Synergy's offer. Further, it is also important
to note that the A1 tariff is below the cost of supply—that is,
householders receive a subsidised electricity price from Synergy.