Households are facing a power price rise from the middle of the year. 

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has proposed increased electricity prices for households and businesses starting from July 1st. 

The proposal includes a “safety net” electricity price, which could see some households facing increases of up to 23.7 per cent, while businesses could face increases of up to 25.4 per cent. 

The draft proposal affects more than 600,000 customers on default market offers in south-east Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia. Meanwhile, Victoria's default offer prices are set to increase by an average of 31.1 per cent. 

The proposed prices will serve as a reference for large electricity retailers such as AGL Energy, Origin Energy, and EnergyAustralia to set their discounted offers for customers on market contracts. 

According to AER chair Clare Savage, the regulator has achieved the appropriate balance between protecting consumers from high prices and allowing retailers to recover their costs. 

She says that the reduction in wholesale power prices and forward contracts since late last year has significantly reduced the amount of price increase that would have been expected. Ms Savage is encouraging customers to shop around for the best deals, as there are still several offers below the default market offer (DMO). 

The proposed increase has been met with mixed reactions, with some saying it will be tough on households and businesses, while others believe it will help retailers recover their costs and avoid the costly failures experienced by international retailers.

More details are accessible here.