Tasmanian power bills set to fall with regulator's draft decision on electricity transmission prices
Tasmanian households will pay less for electricity because transmission company TasNetworks has identified millions of dollars worth of savings.
The Australian energy regulator approved TasNetwork's plans to raise $731 million over four years.
It is estimated the average household electricity bill will drop by $10 in the 2015-16 financial year, off the back of a $48 drop this financial year.
TasNetworks was formed earlier in this year as part of a major restructure of the state's energy sector, taking the electricity distribution business from Tasmania's only electricity retailer, Aurora Energy, and merging it with transmission company Transend.
It has already saved about $8 million through efficiencies connected with the merger.
TasNetworks applied for the energy regulator to determine a pricing structure for its forward estimates over four years.
The revenue the transmission company can raise flows on to influence prices charged by Aurora.
The regulator's Jim Cox said transmission costs mad up about 15 per cent of household and business energy bills in Tasmania.
"They volunteered reductions in costs because they thought they could become more efficient," he said.
"Prices for residential customers will fall about $10 a year and prices for small business customers will fall about $16 a year.
"Prices will also fall for TasNetwork's light industrial customers, who are important users of its services."
TasNetworks' Lance Balcombe said the savings to households would continue to increase.
"We're talking as much as close to $60 by the time we get through to the end of the 2015-16 year," he said.
In the 12 months to June, the state's energy prices fell almost 4 per cent. Over the same period the number of Tasmanians seeking help to pay their power bills doubled.
In October, Tasmania's economic regulator approved an eight per cent drop in energy prices that is not connected to today's draft decision.
