Affordability, pricing and charges

Tariffs and charges

There are two categories of prices:

• Network charges – the cost to deliver electricity to your home or business via the high voltage transmission network as well as our distribution network.
• Alternative control services – metering, public lighting and various customer requested service charges (for example, connection costs for new residential developments).

The network and metering charges form part of the electricity bill you receive from your energy retailer. On average, these charges are about 27% of your electricity bill.

Tariff options

The network charge you pay depends on which tariff you have selected to be on with your energy retailer. There are several options available, including:

• Different classes of tariffs depending on where you draw your power from and how much you use – these include low voltage residential, low voltage business, large low voltage, high voltage and sub-transmission.
• Categories of tariffs for each class which depend on when you use power – these include fixed charge, peak energy rate, off peak energy rate and demand rate.

How much we can charge in total for these is subject to a revenue cap. This form of control is managed by the AER. It means that each year, we need to ensure the proposed prices and the quantity of services proposed for the next year will not result in us receiving more revenue than was AER-approved.

Our price changes explained

The AER recently approved our annual network pricing proposals for 2023-2024, which are due to commence from 1 July 2023.

Importantly, for residential customers, United Energy is among the lowest cost networks in the country.

The annual network component of a typical bill for United Energy customers will be $18.99 higher for households and $34.92 higher for small businesses in 2023–24 compared to 2022–23.

The average annual bill comprises:

• Wholesale electricity costs charged by generators
• Retail charges
• Environmental policies set by governments
• Transmission network costs
• Distribution network costs
• Metering charges

The value of these costs varies enormously from state to state. In Victoria, the forecast total household electricity bill is the lowest in the country at around $1,082. A comparison of states is shown in the table below.