Households and businesses in Australia’s east will find out the price electricity providers will be able to charge as the energy regulator releases it’s draft determination for the year. 

The default market offer (DMO) is a price cap on how much retailers can charge its customers on their default plans and will come into effect from July. 

The Australian Energy Regulator will release its draft DMO for 2024/25, which applies to consumers in NSW, SA and parts of Queensland, on Tuesday morning. 

Victoria’s Essential Services Commission is also expected to release its offer on Tuesday. 

In it’s last update released in January, the regulator said wholesale electricity prices had fallen in NSW, Victoria and South Australia but increased in Queensland and Tasmania.

The price drop was due to coal and gas-fired generation hitting a record low and renewable energy taking a bigger load.

Victoria had the cheapest prices, averaging $34 per megawatt hour, while Queensland was the most expensive at $79 per MWh.

Average annual wholesale electricity prices in the national energy market dropped between 44 per cent and 64 per cent and average annual east coast gas market spot prices fell 43 per cent in 2023.

The proportion of electricity output sourced from coal and gas fell to a record low 66 per cent.

While wholesale electricity prices have fallen since peaks recorded two years ago, the AER warned that Australia remained vulnerable to cost spikes. 

The regulator also warned it would “take time” for power bills to reflect recent lower wholesale costs.

This post was originally published on Michael West.