NSW Energy Minister Chris Hartcher has claimed that 90% of the rise NSW households will see in electricity bills from July is due to Gillard Government’s carbon tax.
In NSW, standard electricity prices are set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART). From July 1, NSW households face an average increase in electricity tariffs of 16% following an 18% jump last year.
Last year’s increase was blamed on network costs and the federal government’s Renewable Energy Targets. Hartcher is basing his 90% claim on IPARTs 2011 prediction that rises would be between 2 and 10 percent. Obviously he believes the additional rise is due to the Carbon Tax. Still, a claim that 90% of the price rise is due to the Carbon Tax, even using this logic is misleading. IPART never said that it predicted a rise of 2%, it did give a range between 2 and 10%.
According to IPART, half the increase is due to network costs and the other half is due to the Carbon Tax. That means either the Carbon Tax is going to eat the poles and wires, which have been neglected for years anyway or that Hartcher is out by 40%. I suspect the later.
Hartcher is just trying to create further anger towards an already disliked federal government instead of being honest with the people of NSW.