AGL Energy’s move to bump up its full-year profit guidance for a second time in three months should get consumers and some in Canberra fuming over price gouging and corporate avarice.
It operates under a variety of default price regimes. In other words, all states demand that consumers be offered a default price, which is determined by a federal government or a state regulator.Customers may choose to pay more if their deal includes some bells and whistles, or less if a consumer shops around and finds a better price.
While higher energy costs have played their part in fuelling inflation, that alone shouldn’t be seen as evidence of price gouging. And as far as power bills are concerned, there’s likely to be little joy for households over the medium to longer term.. Energy companies will push to recover the costs of moving from black to green, and while some of this cost may be compensated by government subsidy schemes, consumers will pay either through higher bills or their taxes.
So, while renewables are cheaper than coal, the transition isn’t. And when it comes to that cost, Dimery said it’s time to get real.and AGL over the past two years outlined the tens of billions of dollars that each of these targets would need to fund the move from coal and gas to renewable generation and storage over the next decade. The Australian Energy Market Operator’s own figures suggest the transition will cost about $383 billion between now and 2050.